Yeovil Town 1 Leeds United 2: Naylor double as Leeds arrest slump

Victory was not enough, however, to take Leeds back into an automatic promotion place following Millwall's win at Colchester and Swindon's home victory against Tranmere.

Although Leeds remain fourth, Naylor stressed the importance of yesterday's victory which followed Saturday's home defeat to Swindon, who went second behind Norwich as a result.

After heading Leeds into a 2-0 lead with his first goals of the season in the 28th and 34th minutes and also going close to a hat-trick with another header in the first half, Naylor said: "It was very important that we got back on track. Results have not been what we have wanted lately so it was important to put in a decent away performance and get the three points.

"Fortunately, I got the two goals but the most important thing was to get the victory. Promotion will mean everything – that's why I came back to the club. We have worked really hard and we want to finish it off especially for the fans who have travelled everywhere with us."

Those 1,900 fans at Yeovil turned their backs for the first minute of play in respect of the two supporters who were murdered in Turkey exactly 10 years ago.

Kevin Speight and Christopher Loftus were stabbed on the eve of Leeds's UEFA Cup semi-final with Galatasaray on April 5, 2000. With the Turks refusing a minute's silence prior to kick-off that night, the Leeds fans responded with their backs to the action for the first 60 seconds.

Leeds, whose players wore black armbands yesterday, had to survive a couple of late scares after Dean Bowditch capitalised on Michael Doyle losing possession near halfway to strike back for Yeovil in the 66th minute before recording their first win in five games.

A total of 413 minutes playing time had elapsed without a goal when Naylor moved up from the back in the 28th minute to meet a right-wing cross by Jonathan Howson and the header looped over Alex McCarthy into the net.

Leeds visibly grew in confidence and six minutes later Naylor did it again, powering Neil Kilkenny's corner past a helpless McCarthy.

Manager Simon Grayson said: "I was delighted for him. You want your characters to lead by example and Richard certainly did that. His goals were the icing on the cake. He would have loved to have got his hat-trick but his all-round performance, like that of the rest of the back four, was really good.

"We needed some goals. They came from an unlikely source but they have put us back on track. It could have been six, seven or eight and a really comfortable afternoon at the office."

Gavin Tomlin came close to levelling with a header that was cleared off the line, but it would have been an injustice had Leeds, inspired by Max Gradel, dropped two points.

The fact that three of the four Leeds bookings were collected in the final seven minutes indicates the pressure they were under.

Yeovil Town: McCarthy; Alcock, Caulker, Forbes, Smith; S Davies (Welsh 63), Kalala, G Williams, MacDonald; Tomlin. Bowditch. Unused substitutes: Jones, Murtagh, Martin Murray, Downes, Hutchins.

Leeds United: Higgs; Bromby, Naylor, Collins, Hughes; Howson, Kilkenny (Johnson 88), Doyle, Snodgrass; Beckford (Watt 88), Gradel. Unused substitutes: Ankergren, Dickov, Grella, Parker, Lowry.

Referee: K Wright (Cambs).