Luke Ayling is being praised by football fans for doing interview straight after Leeds 2-2 Newcastle despite stutter.
Luke Ayling played his part as Leeds United salvaged a draw against Newcastle United on Saturday afternoon.
Leeds welcomed Newcastle to Elland Road desperately needing to pick up a result as they battle against relegation from the Premier League.
Sam Allardyce’s side got off to rhe dream start as Ayling gave them the lead in the seventh minute.
Newcastle managed to turn the game on its head, though, and were leading with 20 minutes remaining thanks to two penalties from Callum Wilson.
Leeds pushed for an equaliser and they got what they wanted as Rasmus Kristensen found the back of the net.
There were no further goals as the two sides shared the spoils.
VIDEO: Luke Ayling speaks to media after Leeds 2-2 Newcastle
Ayling has a stammer. But, despite the speech impediment, he agreed to speak to BT Sport minutes after the finish whistle. Watch his interview below…
“A club like this should be in the Premier League!” 🙌
Luke Ayling speaks to @TheDesKelly following Leeds’ 2-2 draw with Newcastle… pic.twitter.com/YdWWQxJGoV
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) May 13, 2023
“It’s special for me to make my 250th appearance. The point for us today is massive for us – especially how we did it. We go ahead and then get a penalty and should go 2-0 up. But we fall behind 2-1.
“In weeks before we probably lose that 4 or 5-1. But we stuck on there and grinded it out and got what could be a huge point.”
On Patrick Bamford’s penalty and then Callum Wilson’s equaliser minutes later, Ayling said: “It sums up our season in two minutes. We have a chance to go 2-0 up and then that happens.
“I said to Pat at the end that we’ve got to forget that.”
He added: “The fans roared us on right until the end. It’s been hard for them sometimes and they’ve voiced their opinions, which they are right to do. But they all stayed until the end to clap us off. They are going to be massive for us in the next two games.”
Football fans have been praising Luke Ayling for agreeing to be interviewed despite his stammer. View some reaction below…
Fans react
Luke Ayling: Interviews don’t bother me anymore
Ayling has admitted that he used to find interviews ‘quite scary’ but he is now confident enough to do them.
He told Sky Sports, per LeedsLive:“I’ve never had a problem inside the dressing room, being loud and being myself on the pitch,” Ayling added. “I have no problems there. But this (an interview) is something I don’t think I could ever get used to.
“Cameras on you and other people standing around, all eyes on you, it’s quite scary. But I’ve learned that I’m here and people want to hear what I’ve got to say which is nice. I come here, doing these interviews and it doesn’t bother me anymore.
“Still to this day, I don’t go to a coffee drive-thru and stuff like that because I’m not confident in doing it. So there are still things I want to do in my everyday life now and (my stammer) holds me back but it’s ok.”