Back in March, a Tuesday night fixture against Yeovil ended in a convincing 4-0 win to the Whites. Jermaine Beckford scored an hattrick and Leeds lost only one of the remaining fixtures that season. Things were looking up, but for Simon Grayson there was still work to be done. In the same fixture Lucciano Becchio missed Leeds United’s fourth penalty of the season.

Grayson knew he had a potentially costly problem and promised he would find a “designated penalty taker” who would take them on a regular basis. Fast forward a couple of months and Leeds were still having problems from 12 yards. Unlike Becchio’s miss against Yeovil, the one Jermaine Beckford missed against Millwall in the playoff semi-final would prove to be much more costly.

The last time Leeds scored from the spot was when Robert Snodgrass bagged his second in the 2-2 draw with Leyton Orient back in April. Most of you will remember Leyton getting a player sent off as a result of that penalty, but coming back from 2-0 down to earn a point with ten men. This is the only penalty Leeds have scored in the last six attempts.

With that in mind, it seemed appropriate for Robert Snodgrass to have another go against Stockport. The result was far less convincing though. An extremely feeble attempt gave the keeper little trouble and it remains glaringly obvious that Leeds still have a problem.

Clearly we need a solution. Simon Grayson promised to find it back in March but has so far failed to deliver. I don’t think it’s his fault though. I think the problem is that there’s a lot of extra pressure on the players to score from the spot now. They’ll be well aware of how unsuccessful we’ve been from there and Jermaine Beckford’s costly miss against Millwall will be fresh in their memory.

Snoddy may well be the man for the job. His miss on Saturday was a woeful one but if he was to take them permanently and build his confidence up then it may become a different story. Either way, missing penaltys as often as we are is unacceptable.

If all else fails, I don’t mind stepping up and giving it a go. I mean, how hard can it be…