No enjoyment for Marcelo Bielsa as Leeds United tick off another must-win

The Whites were playing catch-up football having been knocked off the top of the Championship by West Bromwich Albion's win over Derby County the previous evening.

But their victory sent an emphatic message to the clubs hoping to catch them, and even moved their goal difference ahead of the Baggies.

Leeds will again play last at the weekend, when they travel to Swansea City, but Bielsa insists it makes no difference.

“If we play before or after, we are forced to win every week,” he argued. “The fact that we know the result of the other opponent doesn’t change anything. We are forced to win.”

He also refused to attach any significance to the manner of the win, secured by a Mateusz Klich penalty and second-half goals from Helder Costa, Liam Cooper, Pablo Hernandez and Patrick Bamford.

“Every game is a new story,” he reflected. “What happened in the previous game does not define the next one. The confidence and security of a team are not linked 100 per cent with the previous result.”

Some of the football Leeds played in the second half, having broken Stoke's backs-to-the-wall defending shortly before the interval, was wonderful to watch, but Bielsa refused to get swept up by it.

“t’s not exactly the right word 'enjoy,'” he said when asked. “I think it was a positive performance and the manager will always be happy if you have that sort of positive effort.”

Stoke are locked in a relegation battle with the likes of Barnsley, Hull City, Middlesbrough and Huddersfield Town, and manager Michael O'Neill admitted they were up against it as soon as Tommy Smith gave away a needless penalty after 43 minutes. Their whole gameplan was geared to stopping goals, not scoring them.

“When you give a team of this quality a leg-up as we did with the penalty, the second half was always going to be difficult,” he said. “We’ve got four games left to save ourselves.

“I’d be very surprised if they didn’t go up. They’re the best team we’ve played and physically we just couldn’t deal with them.”

Leeds need another seven points from their four remaining games to secure promotion to the Premier League.

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