United swept all before them in League One last month – by virtue of wins over Crewe, Swindon, Carlisle and Hereford and cup successes over Hartlepool and Bradford – cutting a dash on occasions with some eye-catching pass-and-move football.

But for a granite-like defender like Hunter, substance has always won over style – even for a player whose finer qualities were wholly and wrongly underestimated by the Londoncentric footballing press of the 60s and 70s.

Hunter has always been more brown ale than bubbly and it comes as little surprise that what has given him most pleasure this term came at the County Ground on September 13.

Down to 10 men following the early dismissal of Alan Sheehan, United faced a searching test of character and backs-to-the-wall examination amid a parochial Wiltshire crowd.

They donned the hard hats, manned the barricades and successfully repelled what the hosts threw at them and claimed an outstanding 3-1 win.

And while United earned the bouquets for their consummate 5-2 dispatching of Crewe – a late aberration or two aside – and a head-turning victory at Fortress Brunton Park, not to mention their stylish football against Hereford, which would have yielded a hatful of goals if it wasn't for the heroics of Bulls' keeper Darren Randolph, Hunter knows what he likes.

Flowing football is all well and good, but the nature of the beast that is Leeds United, – everyone's favourite scalp in League One – is that sometimes you have to show your claws and battle.

And within that, keeping the back door shut as much as possible is a given, with the fact that the defensive unit is showing signs of consistency in the shape of two clean sheets against Carlisle and Hereford also not lost on Hunter when he reflects on United's progress so far in 2008/09.

He said: "I think we're doing well and are capable of staying up there. We're playing good football and I've been quite pleased by what I've seen and we've also been showing battling qualities, which you need.

"What has pleased me more than anything was the win at Swindon, when we played 80 minutes with 10 men after Sheehan got sent off. It was a real battle, but we hung in there and were well organised and won that game, which was a tremendous win.

"You have to dig in. It can't be nice every week or pretty and it's about going out and just winning sometimes.

"Sometimes, it's all about batting to get the three points and getting say a scruffy 1-0 result or hard-fought win.