Birmingham City had more of the possession in this game, but it was Leeds who came away with the three points.

The only change in the starting line-up saw Dallas taking Sacko’s place, but it was a bit of a surprise that Vieira was left out of the matchday squad altogether. Apparently Garry Monk felt he needed a rest in the midst of a hectic schedule, and he will be back for Fulham on Tuesday night, as will Charlie Taylor on his return from injury.

The home side were able to include our one-time loan full-back Paul Robinson after his previous red card was overturned. And the blues began in determined fashion, looking to build on their hard fought win at Wolves, which had been Gianfranco Zola’s first win as City boss. Their early efforts saw Davis find the side netting from a narrow angle, and Rob Green had to produce a fine save to deny the same player.

So the first Leeds goal in the 17th minute came somewhat against the run of play. Ayling sent a long ball down the middle, which a defender wasn’t able to cut out, and Chris Wood managed to stretch and send the ball over the keeper with his only touch, and then gravity did the rest as it dropped into the back of the net.

But for most of the remainder of the first half it seemed just a matter of time before the hosts got back on level terms. Early on Jansson looked uncharacteristically careless, Hernandez looked out of sorts, and O’Kane and Doukara also seemed to be letting the game pass them by. Birmingham came close with one goalmouth scramble, and Gardner sent a free kick just over the bar.

But their best effort came just before the break, when a fierce Tesche shot from distance smacked against the crossbar. And after the break there was more of the same, with Bartley having to be alert to clear an Adams header off the line. Finally the Leeds management decided to shore up the midfield by replacing the hapless O’Kane with Kalvin Phillips.

Not sure who would have taken this decision, with Garry Monk confined to the stand, but it was long overdue. Yet Birmingham were still able to grab an equaliser on 63 minutes, when we could only clear as far as Gardner just outside the area, and he scored with a fierce shot that started off heading wide but then curled inside the post. At that stage I was wondering if we would even hold on for a point, but four minutes later we were back in front.

Doukara sent Phillips away on the right, and he cut into the box to send the ball across the face of goal to the unmarked Wood, who took his time to steady himself before placing it into the far corner where Kuszczak wasn’t going to be able to reach it. As Wood went to celebrate with the 3,281 Leeds fans behind the goal, he sought out Phillips to thank him for the quality of the cross.

Shortly afterwards Pedraza came on for Dallas, and for the first time in the game Leeds were starting to look comfortable. At last Hernandez woke up and forced Kuszczak into a good save, before he set up his fellow Spaniard for the third goal. Pedraza let the ball run across him to get it onto his favoured left foot, before sending a powerful shot past the keeper into the far corner.

That was enough excitement for Hernandez for one evening, as he was replaced by Roofe for the last 8 minutes. Leeds were able to see out the remaining time with no further alarms, and there was even a chance for Wood to complete a hat-trick. A mistake from Shotton put him through against Kuszczak, but for once he took too long and the opportunity went begging, though a 4-1 scoreline would have flattered our performance over the full 90 minutes.

So 3-1 it was, and we might be concerned with the limitations of this performance, but they say it’s a good sign when teams win when they haven’t played well. After today’s results we might still dream of automatic promotion, given Brighton’s and Huddersfield’s defeat, but the play-off remain our most realistic aim.

The game at Fulham on Tuesday looks key to securing our place in the top six, and we could do with at least a point, though we might need a bit of an improvement if we are going to get it.

Photo: Action Images

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