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LEEDS UNITED: Mac: We must calm it down
Leeds United manager Gary McAllister called for a calm perspective on the club's league position after his players recovered from their defeat at Millwall with a narrow victory over Leyton Orient.
United fought back from a goal down to claim a 2-1 win against Orient last night, and McAllister was relieved by a positive response to what he described as an anxious atmosphere at Elland Road on the back of Saturday's loss at the New Den.
Leeds suffered their third defeat of the League One season at the weekend after a display against Millwall which McAllister described as "unacceptable", and he praised the character of his squad for their spirited reaction yesterday.
His team came under pressure after Jermaine Beckford's missed penalty on 10 minutes was followed by Orient opening the scoring through striker Dean Morgan, but two goals in the final seven minutes of the first half turned last night's game in United's favour.
Results elsewhere allowed Leeds to close the gap on league leaders Scunthorpe United – one of three teams above United in the table – to three points, and McAllister stressed the need for patience as his club continue to chase automatic promotion.
"There was a little feeling of anxiousness here," he said. "We've got to calm down.
"We've played 12 games and we want to be right up there sitting at the top of the league, but there has to be a realisation that we can't just be expected to roll teams over.
"The three points calms things down and we've got to build on that and look forward to Walsall (on Saturday).
"Of course there's more scrutiny on our results than other people's. I look back at the celebrations at The Den on Saturday and I don't like that. I don't like losing.
"But when we go into other people's territory or when they come here, it's game on. We didn't expect to come out this season and pull away from everybody. It's a competitive league, it's tough and we're going to have to fight for everything."
Orient underlined the strength of League One with a lively performance which seemed at odds with their standing two places above the foot of the table, and McAllister was pleased by his side's response to both their loss at Millwall and the concession of Orient's goal.
Beckford's penalty had been United's chance to break the deadlock, potentially leading to a more straightforward night, but he lost his footing and drove his spot-kick high over the crossbar.
The miss was the start of a frustrating night for the striker, who hit a post and the crossbar and also saw Orient goalkeeper Glenn Morris deny him with a brilliant second-half save, but a header from his strike partner Luciano Becchio in first-half injury-time separated the teams after Stephen Purches' own goal cancelled out Morgan's strike.
"I thought we showed a lot of character," McAllister said. "The players stood up to be counted.
"We created a lot of chances and on another night our leading marksman could have scored three or four.
"But we're not playing this sort of style or going down this road to look good and play for claps from the crowd The objective is to create chances at the end of it and we did.
"There's a little bit of concern over the chances we gave up at the other end and I don't think it was off the back of sustained pressure from Orient. We were being done on the counter-attack. We've got to eradicate that."
McAllister made three changes to his line-up last night, bringing in Paul Telfer, Ben Parker and Jonathan Howson, and he revealed afterwards that Rui Marques and Andrew Hughes had been omitted due to back and groin injuries respectively.
Leeds, meanwhile, have extended goalkeeper Alan Martin's loan at non-league club Barrow until November 22.
Millwall, United's conquerors on Saturday, took advantage of Scunthorpe's slip up to go level on points with the leaders following a 2-1 win at Colchester United.
Third-placed Leicester City dropped two points as they were held 2-2 at home by Walsall who had former United striker Michael Ricketts on the scoresheet, while John Sheridan's Oldham went down 2-0 at Bristol Rovers and drop to fifth.
Southend United stay in sixth courtesy of the point gained from their long trip to Glanford Park.
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Weather for Leeds
Sunday 12 February 2012
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Light rain
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