Bates used his always entertaining programme notes to contrast Arsenal's £223m turnover last year with Leeds' £22m, illustrating how far his club have to go.

After Turner watched his bottom-of-the-table side withstand immense pressure before conceding the game's only goal to Gary McAllister's promotion hunters, the former Aston Villa and Wolves manager drew comparisons of his own.

"Interestingly enough I read Ken Bates' column complaining about the gap between Leeds and Arsenal," said Turner. "I think our turnover is about £1.4m. We've worked hard to get to this level and have to work even harder to stay here."

The chasm in class between Leeds and Hereford was there for all to see at Elland Road as Turner employed an ultra-defensive system which caused frustration on the pitch and in the 25,000-plus crowd until under-siege goalkeeper Darren Randolph clawed out Luciano Becchio's 72nd minute header, only for Andy Robinson to launch himself forward and head the ball into the net.

It was the second time in four days that Robinson had proved Leeds' goalscoring hero, coming in the wake of his late winner against Hartlepool, though Becchio might have argued that the ball had already crossed the line before Randolph bent backwards to claw it out to the lurking Robinson.

Stout defending and inspired goalkeeping prevented a much more comprehensive victory as McAllister counted 31 attempts on goal from his team compared with four from the Bulls, who have only four points from their first eight games.

Yet if Matt Done and substitute Moses Ashikodi had punished late defensive lapses, Leeds would have been denied a sixth successive win in all competitions – a feat they last completed in October, 1999, with David O'Leary in charge.

Leeds United: Lucas; Richardson, Marques, Telfer; White (Hughes 79); Howson, Douglas, Delph; Robinson (Snodgrass 85), Becchio, Beckford. Unused substitutes: Ankegren, Prutton, Kilkenny.

Hereford United: Randolph; Jackson, Broadhurst, N'Gotty, Rose; Hudson-Odoi (Smith 81), Johnson (Taylor 81), Diagouraga, O'Leary, Done; Chadwick (Ashikodi 67). Unused substitutes: Samson, Beckwith.

Referee: G Laws (Tyne and Wear).

Man of the match: Darren Randolph.