The former Leeds striker was not impressed with the performance but happy with the result.
Leeds United picked up another win today, although it was not a performance to write home about.
The Whites defeated ten man Preston North End at Elland Road courtesy of an own goal – which in itself should tell you that Leeds were not over convincing.
Preston were masters of their own downfall. On loan keeper Jordan Pickford was sent off after handling the ball outside of his area in a challenge with Chris Wood.
Then Alan Browne headed the ball past 17-year-old keeper Matt Hudson from a delicious Stuart Dallas delivery to give Leeds the barely deserved three points.
It was indeed a performance that did little to excite former striker Noel Whelan.
He told the commentary for BBC Leeds:
“It wasn’t pretty, it wasn’t a great second half, but they got the job done.
“You have to match them – when they pick up the pace, you have to and you have to control the state of the game.
“It didn’t look like we had the extra energy throughout that second half.
“The runs weren’t right, the passes weren’t tight and it was all too heavy.”
Preston undoubtedly deserved something from the game given the effort they put in after going down to ten men so early.
But Leeds need to be able to take advantage of those situations with more efficiency.
The result though was all important today, as Leeds moved above Blackburn Rovers into 13th in the Championship table and just five points off of the play-offs.
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