After the disappointment of Tuesday night's 1-0 defeat by promotion rivals Crystal Palace, Leeds United boss Kevin Blackwell got some better news last night.
Eirik Bakke, Frazer Richardson and Joel Griffiths completed their first full games for some time in an entertaining reserve match against Manchester City, which Leeds dominated and deserved better than a 1-1 draw.
Blackwell also saw new-boy Jermaine Beckford follow up his 13-minute cameo against Palace with an encouraging hour-long display.
The former Wealdstone striker, who only joined Leeds last week from the non-League club, was still pinching himself after making his debut against Palace in which he showed enough pace and positional sense to suggest he is an exciting prospect.
The bubbly striker said: "I was gobsmacked to get my chance in front of all those people; it was amazing. I was happy to be watching the game from the bench but then the manager decided to send me on."
The 23-year-old striker last night showed more good touches, pace, power and some moments of the unexpected that had the City defence struggling.
He created one chance for himself but in trying to lift the ball over Nick Weaver put it just over the bar. He did find the net later only to have it ruled out for a dubious offside.
Leeds gave away a soft goal midway through the second half from a poor clearance by 'keeper Ben Smith but soon equalised when Griffiths beat two men before rifling a shot into the roof of Weaver's net.
Bakke produced a few good moments and will benefit from a full run-out, as will Richardson, who was playing his first game for four months following injuries to both knees.
The young full-back said: "It was great to be out there again. I've only been training for a week and a half so I was feeling it a bit towards the end. But that was just what I needed."
Updated: 11:31 Thursday, March 23, 2006
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