Pablo keeps Leeds on the right line

LEEDS may have needed a little luck to beat Ipswich 3-2, but Pablo Hernandez believes they are on the right track towards promotion ahead of tomorrow’s trip to fellow pacesetters Cardiff.

Hernandez’s attempt at goal direct from a corner resulted in keeper Bartosz Bialkowski dropping the ball over his line.

“I watched the goalkeeper and his position wasn’t good. He was two or three metres off his line and I tried to shoot,” said the Spaniard. “Everyone knows we fought all last season to stay in the play-offs, and in the last moment we lost that position. Now it is a new season and a new year with many things changing in the club. We are on the right line.”

Cardiff warmed up for the clash with Neil Warnock’s old club with a 2-1 win at Sunderland and the Welsh capital is buzzing.

“The whole city is with us,” said Warnock. “I get a good spirit into a club, that’s what I do. Not just in the dressing room but the whole place. The fans are with us again, we’re together as a unit.”

Sunderland’s defeat left them in the bottom three along with Birmingham, who drew 1-1 at Derby, and Bolton, beaten 3-0 at home by Brentford.

Yoannn Barbet opened the scoring for the Bees just hours after leaving his mother’s bedside in France, where she is recuperating from heart surgery.

“It has been a strange day for me,” he said. “I was on the bench and came on to score, so I am happy for my mum today. I hope she recovers well after this.”

A sixth successive game without a goal represents a new club record for the Trotters and pressure is starting to build on manager Phil Parkinson.

He said: “I’ve had some tough games here but that is the first time I’ve seen a team completely lose its way. Have we got enough quality to stay up? At the moment it would appear not but we’ve got to keep searching to find a way.”