THE Christmas turkey had barely been digested the last time Glenn Hoddle tasted a league defeat as Wolves manager. For the sake of his side’s promotion ambitions, he’ll hope this performance can be banished from their systems sooner rather than later.

Records, as Leeds manager Kevin Blackwell had said before the game, are there to be broken, even when they arrive as impressively assembled as Wolves’ at Elland Road.

The visitors’ last league loss was on January 4 — opening their finest unbeaten run for more than eight decades — but in finally kick-starting their Championship campaign yesterday Leeds always suggested they were up for puncturing Wolves’ inflated confidence.

A goal in each half from Eddie Lewis and Rob Hulse delivered the Yorkshiremen’s most assured performance of the season so far, but Blackwell knows such an important scalp will only mean something if they avoid the kind of needless defeats that so derailed their hopes of an immediate return to the Premiership last year.

“I’ll tell you in May how important this result will be,” said Blackwell. “But what I do know is that it will give the club confidence and give the players confidence. The signs are that we can get better, so that’s why a win over Wolves might be significant.”

With eight minutes gone, Wolves gifted their hosts just the kind of start Blackwell had been after. Under close attention from the impressive Icelander Gylfi Einarsson, Wolves’ Lee Naylor spilled possession to Frazer Richardson on the right. The midfielder, making his first start of the season in place of Jermaine Wright, dragged the ball across goal and into the path of the incoming Lewis, who side-footed it into the net.

Wolves, minus an injured Paul Ince, were posing only a sporadic threat as Leeds dominated the opening half-hour, but they almost regained parity through Kenny Miller after 23 minutes. The Scot, having been put through by Ki-Hyeon Seol, smacked the crossbar from 20 yards and then almost followed up a mazy dribble only to be denied by goalkeeper Ian Bennett.

Miller’s intervention did at least prompt his teammates into greater attacking pressure, and seven minutes before half-time only a sliding Richardson could deny Rohan Ricketts a clear shot on goal after Carl Cort’s pull-back. Just before the break, Cort employed a delightful first touch to almost turn Naylor’s cross into an equaliser.

After the break, Wolves began to take the game to their hosts in a far more convincing manner, with Seol in particular beginning to see more of the ball on the right flank. Their better football was not responsible for their next chance, however, which came when Naylor’s 55th-minute free-kick was deflected into the path of Cort, who scuffed his shot.

The striker’s miss proved expensive, as Leeds doubled their lead on the hour. Paul Butler’s free kick was headed on by Einarsson, but Hulse still had much to do as he received the ball with his back to goal six yards out. He turned delightfully, leaving Joleon Lescott stranded as he fired a low shot past Michael Oakes. The smartly taken goal in effect ended the game as a contest, and Wolves needed a brilliant save from Oakes to stop Lewis adding a third after Richardson’s 76th-minute cross.

“We’ve now got to bounce back from that,” admitted Hoddle, who insisted his side had been hard done by. “I’m not concerned about unbeaten runs, I’m concerned with getting promotion. That’s the only stat I’m interested in after 46 games.”

STAR MAN: Gylfi Einarsson (Leeds United)

Player ratings. Leeds United: Bennett 7, Kelly 7, Butler 7, Gregan 8, Harding 7, Richardson 7 (Healy 80min, 6), Derry 7, Einarsson 9, Lewis 7, Blake 6 (Douglas 58min, 6), Hulse 8 (Ricketts, 75min 6)

Wolves: Oakes 6, McNamara 6, Edwards 6, Lescott 5, Naylor 7, Cameron 6 (Clarke 69min, 6), Olofinjana 6, Ricketts 7 (Davies 59min, 6), Seol 7 (Ndah 64min, 6), Cort 6, Miller 8

Scorers: Leeds United: Lewis 8, Hulse 60

Referee: R Beeby

Attendance: 21,229

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