‘There’s a funny thing’: Jack Harrison shares what Mike Dean did to him after he scored his hat-trick on Sunday

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Leeds United surprised a few people by picking up a 3-2 win over West Ham United at the London Stadium, and Jack Harrison was the star of the show.

The 25-year-old hadn’t scored in the Premier League this season until the game against Burnley at the start of this month. He now has four in two games thanks to his fantastic hat-trick against the Hammers last weekend.

The treble was Harrison’s first-ever in the English top-flight. That really is a proud moment and he will hold on to that match ball for a long, long time.

However, just as he was about to get that ball from Mike Dean, the referee ‘did his thing’ and Harrison, like a few of us, found it funny.

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Jack Harrison: What Mike Dean did after my hat-trick against West Ham

The Englishman said on The Official Leeds United podcast: “To be honest, it was an incredible feeling. After I scored the third goal, it didn’t quite hit me that I’d just scored the first hat-trick in my career, just through the celebrating and everything.

“I remember Stuart Dallas grabbing me by the face and is like ‘you’ve just scored a hat-trick in the Premier League!’

“It was Rafa that reminded me, Jack here’s the ball and gave it to the referee and Mike Dean did his thing.

“There’s a funny thing where he is going to give it to me and then he pulls away at the last minute and I’m just there like ‘please can I have my ball?’ It was like when you’re at school and you’re a young kid playing with the older boys and asking ‘can I have my ball back’.”

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Harrison’s form is crucial for Leeds now

Leeds have been really unlucky this season. Injuries have been cruel on them and even with the players they’ve had available, Marcelo Bielsa’s men created plenty of chances. They just couldn’t take them.

Harrison’s newfound form could prove to be a gamechanger for Leeds. Four goals in his last two league games is an incredible record and if he can keep this going, the Whites could well get back into the top half of the table by the end of the season.

It will be interesting to see how Leeds will fare in the coming weeks. Patrick Bamford is set to return soon and that will be a big boost. If the ex-Chelsea man, Harrison and Raphinha can combine well, Bielsa’s men will cause a lot of problems to every side in the league.

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