They are red hot favourites with the bookmakers – but that tag seemed to weigh heavily on their shoulders in the first half at Glanford Park against a Scunthorpe side anxious to impress after relegation from the Championship last season.

It was only in the second half that Leeds stepped up a gear to come from behind and eventually finish deserved winners with a goal apiece from strikers Enoch Showunmi and Jermaine Beckford.

"The first half was a reminder to us that we are not going to get it all our own way this season," confessed manager Gary McAllister. "On our travels and at Elland Road, we are going to have to earn the right to get the ball down and play. But we dug in and grinded away and after 55 or 60 minute we began to get a bit of rhythm. We started to get our passing going and by the final whistle I thought we deserved the victory."

There was a worried frown on the face of McAllister at half-time after watching his side play second fiddle to a Scunthorpe side with ex-Elland Road youngster Ian Morris pulling the strings in midfield with former Barnsley man Grant McCann.

It was Scunthorpe who swept ahead in the 57th minute when poor defending by Leeds allowed Gary Hooper into the box to squeeze a shot past Casper Ankergren. But four minutes later Leeds were on level terms when Showunmi marked his debut with a goal, powering home a header from a free-kick by Snodgrass.

Leeds took control in midfield and forced some desperate defending from the home side before Beckford struck an 80th-minute winner, forcing home the rebound after David Prutton had rattled the bar.

"The thing with Jermaine is I sometimes have to remind myself that he is only maybe three years out of non-league football," said McAllister. "We have got to teach him what the expectations are from both me and his colleagues. He is a player that is learning and getting better as time goes by."

Scunthorpe: Lillis, Byrne, Milne, Iriekpen, Williams, Thompson, Morris, McCann (May 82), Hurst (Sparrow 75), Hooper, Hayes (Forte 67). Unused substitutes: Lea, Wright.

Leeds: Ankergren, Richardson, Huntington, Marques, Sheehan, Snodgrass, Prutton, Howson, Robinson (Hughes 90), Showunmi (Becchio 81), Beckford. Unused substitutes: Douglas, Lucas, Telfer.

Referee: Lee Probert (Wiltshire).

Man of the match: Beckford.