Resilient Whites Bounce Back At Leicester TSS November 6, 2011 Match reviews 8 Comments You can criticise Leeds United for a lot of things; for the lapses in concentration that cause shoddy defensive blunders, for their fascination with hoofball football, for the poor discipline record that already has us on five red cards for the season. You can even fault the manager at times for the wrong tactics or player signings. But the one thing you cannot take away from Simon Grayson’s side is their spirit and resilience. I’ve spoken of a resilient Whites side picking points up on a number of occasions this season, but nothing speaks to that attribute quite like today’s win over Leicester City. It wasn’t a pretty win, nor was it a particularly enthralling one. The game in truth was actually pretty dire. But Leeds arrived at the King Power Stadium with a determination that they would right the wrong of Wednesday night, and that’s exactly what they did. Through sheer force of will, the Whites contained Leicester City better than they have any team in quite some time. On loan Alex McCarthy barely had a save to make as Leeds scrapped away, keeping Leicester City from breaking into the box and forcing them out wide to ensure they were never gifted a simple shooting angle. It was containing football at it’s most basic from The Whites, but every player on the park worked hard to ensure the strategy succeeded and Leeds emerged deserving victors as a result. Our own chances were as limited as Leicester City’s, but Adam Clayton once again proved his worth with an absolutely unstoppable goal-of-the-season contender that proved to be the difference. Jermaine Beckford, who described his time at Leeds United as the best of his career in the programme was given a warm welcome by the Whites fans, but even he couldn’t break through Leeds’ determined defence to level the score and create an all too predictable finish to the game. This was the kind of reaction I predicted after the humiliation at home to Blackpool midweek. We may not be the most consistent team in the league, and Christ knows we’re prone to the odd horror show, but there’s a determination in this squad that will see us over that all important play-off line come May – of that I have no doubts. Whilst every player on the park deserves a huge pat on the back for their efforts today, I think Andy O’Brien and Patrick Kisnorbo are worthy of special mention. Much like Simon Grayson, they’ve been subject to a lot of disproportionate criticism, but both of them worked tirelessly today to ensure we kept the clean sheet and as such, fully deserve to share the match ball. On and on… You can catch highlights of today’s win on The Revie Way.