Dan Harding's strike on 18 minutes separated the two teams who are expected to mount strong bids for promotion from League One.

The left-back, who left Elland Road in 2006 as part of the deal which brought Westlake to Leeds from Ipswich Town, curled home a free-kick to claim his first goal for Southend and inflict United's fourth straight loss in all competitions.

Last night's loss did not do serious damage to United's league position – the club dropped from second place to third but did not lose any ground on leaders Scunthorpe United. nevertheless, McAllister admitted his disappointment at Leeds' lack of attacking fluency in Essex.

"At times I thought we played some good stuff," he said. "Their keeper made a few decent saves and we created some good situations, but our final delivery let us down.

"For parts of the game we were fine. I couldn't fault the lads – I can't say they weren't giving it 100 per cent.

"But there were occasions when we didn't get what I expect from certain players and that's quality.

"With the amount of possession and amount of play we had and considering the areas we got into, I felt that we should have been creating a bit more in the way of chances.

"It's disappointing for us, especially after a couple of fantastic results at Elland Road. We've come away from home and that's three (league) defeats on the bounce now."

McAllister refused to blame United's loss of points away from home on other teams improving their performances against the Yorkshire club.

He said: "Southend worked their socks off, which we knew they would.

"Their team had just come off the back of a spanking at Bristol Rovers last weekend and their manager will have been looking for a reaction like any manager would."

Johnson, meanwhile, scored twice on his debut for Brighton last night, 24 hours after joining the club on loan from Leeds until January 3.
The midfielder's brace helped Albion to a 3-2 victory over Leicester City at the Withdean Stadium.