Ipswich 2 Leeds United 1: Bad week continues for Leeds

He demanded a big change in attitude from his players after seeing them squander a 4-1 lead last Tuesday evening to lose 6-4.

Tommy Smith turned from villain to hero as Ipswich eventually saw off a spirited Leeds side reduced to 10 men.

After Jason Scotland had given Ipswich a first-half lead, an error from Smith allowed Leeds to poach an equaliser through Robert Snodgrass.

But, after former Ipswich defender Alex Bruce had been sent off for a second yellow card, Smith was afforded the freedom of the Leeds penalty area to head home the winner.

"I thought we were quite comfortable, even though we were behind at half-time," said Grayson. "Our goalkeeper didn't have too many saves to make and we looked solid.

"There was a response from the team, after the other night. But we just needed a bit more belief at half-time that we could actually get back in the game. In this division any time you make a mistake you can get punished. We had possession of the ball and then gave it away for their first goal. The next thing we knew it was in the net.

"But we got back in the game and looked more than capable of being able to get a result. Then a few things happened that didn't help our cause. The sending-off was fair. It possibly contributed to our downfall.

"I don't mind teams opening us up when we're down to 10 men but we defended a corner and then their lad had a free header that we could quite easily have dealt with."

Ipswich boss Roy Keane felt his side were good value.

"It was a fair result and a good performance," said Keane. "Leeds caused us problems as you'd expect. They're a big, strong team with a lot of energy, but we just about edged it.

"We gave away a shocking goal but the players responded well and we scored two good goals ourselves.

"We could have been a bit more clinical when we were breaking on two-v-ones or three-v-ones.

"Jason scored a great goal. It certainly wasn't easy and there was a lot of work still to do.

"But when we get these other chances we've got to take them, because we're not a team capable of scoring three or four goals.

"1-0 or 2-1 I'll take all day. I'm not interested in 4-3s or 5-2s. I'll leave that to the other teams."

Ipswich: Fulop, Eastman (Priskin 52), McAuley, Smith, Kennedy, Peters, Livermore, Leadbitter, Edwards (Brown 84), Townsend, Scotland (Wickham 81). Unused substitutes: Murphy, Healy, Murray. Booked: Leadbitter.

Leeds United: Higgs (Brown 62), Bruce, Collins, Naylor, McCartney, Howson, Faye, Kilkenny (Watt 74), Johnson (Becchio 74), Snodgrass, Somma. Unused substitutes: Gradel, Clayton, Hughes, Nunez.

Referee: Keith Hill (Hertfordshire).

Man of the match: Tommy Smith.