WHITES PUT ON A HECK OF A SHOW
Paul sees shoots of promise at last
LEEDS boss Paul Heckingbottom feels his squad are finally starting to turn a significant corner but Phil Parkinson is desperately seeking a killer finisher at Bolton.
It’s not been easy for Heckingbottom at Elland Road so far.
Ahead of the Easter programme, he had overseen just one win in eight matches since he left Yorkshire Championship rivals Barnsley for his new, considerable challenge.
However, Leeds impressed hugely against the Trotters on Good Friday and the manager now feels renewed confidence ahead of Tuesday night’s tough-looking trip to Fulham.
Heckingbottom said: “I saw lots of last-ditch tackles and some real desire from the players against Bolton.
“That really pleased me. Now it’s just about getting things a bit slicker and working even harder between now and the end of the season.
“We’re not re-inventing the wheel here. Every player in the squad has got to be reading from the same page, and I think that’s what’s happening more and more.
“As coaching staff we’re drilling more and more things into the players, and they’re really starting to take things on board now.
“I’m pleased with how it’s going so far, but of course it is all about results, and you’ll never please all of the people all of the time.”
Wanderers now move onto a home fixture against Birmingham on Tuesday night.
They are still six points clear of the drop zone with just seven games left to play, but boss Parkinson has warned against any sort of complacency.
He said: “Whoever we play now before the end of the season, it’s going to be a big game.
“We’ve done well recently and I was pleased with the performance at Leeds, but I would say all we need now is maybe a bit more quality and that killer finish in and around the goal.
“We can’t let our standards drop at this point. I felt we did a lot of good things on Friday.
“We controlled that game for periods, and that’s against a side who are really strong at home.
“We could have let our heads drop when we went 2-0 behind, but the lads didn’t and credit to them for that.”
Leeds got themselves off to a terrific start on Friday as they broke the deadlock after just four minutes.
Caleb Ekuban grabbed his first league goal for Leeds, smashing home clinically after pouncing on Pablo Hernandez’s downward header.
Bolton’s best first-half opportunity fell to an unmarked Jan Kirchhoff, who somehow planted a free header wide from close range.
Leeds’ Pontus Jansson then headed against the crossbar just before the interval.
But both sides struck in the opening ten minutes of the second period.
Firstly, Leeds doubled their advantage when Pablo Hernandez prodded home cheekily from close-range after being first to react following Ben Alnwick’s save from Ezgjan Alioski’s strike.
However, the lead was halved just three minutes later when Adam Le Fondre superbly headed home Sammy Ameobi’s pinpoint cross.
Leeds bossed the remainder of the game with Ekuban twice fluffing further chances to cement what was, in the end, a deserved victory.