United cast off the frustration created by their leanest spell of the season with a sublime 4-1 win at Prenton Park, responding emphatically to doubts and questions about their ability to see out the League One campaign.

The club's results have dipped alarmingly in the second half of the term but Grayson was confident enough after success on the Wirral to claim Leeds were returning to their peak at the ideal moment, 11 games away from the end of the season.

United's manager has argued throughout the past month that his players were gradually creeping back into form after experiencing a downturn in January and early February, and the manner of their win over Tranmere – sealed by three first-half goals and a brace from Jermaine Beckford – explained his continuing faith in the squad at Elland Road.

Leeds travel to Southampton on Saturday with five points protecting them from Charlton Athletic, the club leading the chase for second position but the Addicks' margin for error has been greatly reduced by the successful outcome of United's game in hand.

The victory carried Leeds over the threshold of 70 points, potentially six victories away from confirming their promotion to the Championship automatically, but as pleased as Grayson was to see the pressure on his side lifted, he refused to accept their defeat of Tranmere as a reason for complacency.

"There's no doubt that the performance helps us, but it's not the end of the road, not by a long stretch," he said.

"We've got 11 hard games coming up and although we're not going to be far away, we can't get carried away by one result.

"But I knew we had a result like this in us and I've been saying for a while that we've been coming back to our best.

"I honestly think the only two performances that really let us down were against Walsall and Brighton – in all the other games we've been well and truly in them – but I do think we've stepped things up since those two matches.

"Tranmere was certainly an improvement on all the games that went before, and it's the right time to have that improvement with 11 games to go. We're where we want to be."

Grayson is one person whose perspective on the League One table has been unaffected by the sight of Leeds surrendering a substantial lead at the top of the division and then falling to a position of vulnerability in second place, narrowly clear of several clubs below.

United's advantage over third position diminished to a single point after their 1-1 draw with Brighton last month, offering minimal protection over a Colchester United team who have gone backwards since, but their continuing presence inside the top two left Grayson content.

His side's fluctuating form was, in fact, indicative of the division as a whole. Beneath Norwich City, League One's leaders, all six of the clubs with a design on second place have grasped unsuccessfully for consistent results, a sign of the pressure that is building.

Huddersfield Town are almost out of the running, 13 points behind Leeds and due to host the Canaries at the Galpharm Stadium this weekend.

Swindon Town have also lost ground after a flurry of results that saw Danny Wilson named manager of the month for February.

That unpredictability reminded Grayson – and, to a point, United's supporters – that it is better to defend second place than to chase it, not least with a five-point advantage to fall back on.

Grayson said: "I said on Saturday (after United's 1-1 draw with Brentford) that I'd prefer to be second in the table, two points clear of Charlton with a game in hand, than further down the league.

"We've now gone level on games and we're five points clear. Every manager would want to swap places with me and Paul Lambert (Norwich's manager).

"It doesn't matter where we are in terms of first or second. We want to finish in the top two regardless. It's always been our sole aim. We've been up at the top and we were there to be shot at, but we're still there to be shot at by the teams below us.

"Some of our results have been annoying because the aim is to get promoted as quickly as possible. You don't want to put the club or the fans through anxious moments.

"But that's football. You can't win every game and I think our form's been highlighted because we hardly lost any games in the first half of the season, but we've been determined to put it right."

Grayson's attempt to guard against complacency will be helped by the nature of the games ahead of Leeds in a three-week period which could decide their season.

Saturday's match at St Mary's is the first of four in succession against clubs who have accumulated 50 points or more. Millwall, Norwich and Swindon complete that sequence, promising a swing of points great enough to either carry Leeds to the verge of automatic promotion or drastically alter the make-up of the top six.

Grayson refused to concede that the next three weeks will be a defining period for his club, but he was reassured to see his squad preparing themselves for a crucial spell of games with the most dominant of victories at Prenton Park.

"I wanted us to get some form going into these games," Grayson said. "We know they're vital.

"But every game's defining. There's no real difference between beating Southampton or winning at Yeovil in a few weeks' time.

"Our job is to chip away and get points here, there and everywhere while the games tick by."