ELEVEN league matches played, seven demoralising defeats, four of which have come at home — the statistics certainly make depressing reading for followers of Leeds United and, if yesterday’s match was anything to judge, then perhaps the chances of caretaker manager John Carver securing the job on a full-time basis is in serious doubt, too.

The nights have barely begun to get shorter and yet Leeds’s prospects of promotion this season is looking increasingly unlikely. Behind as early as the seventh minute, through Lee Hendrie’s fantastic free kick, they were embarrassingly off the pace, conceding three times more, and losing to Stoke City at Elland Road for the first time since February 1981.

Stoke manager Tony Pulis, who returned to the club this summer for his second spell in charge, has not enjoyed the most satisfying of times recently either, experiencing just one victory this season before this match.

Two of his latest recruits, Salif Diao and Rory Delap — on loan from Liverpool and Sunderland respectively — started yesterday in midfield, although it was Hendrie who produced the most significant first-half contribution for the visitors.

Hendrie, on loan from Aston Villa for three months, initiated the move on six minutes, expertly feeding Vincent Pericard along the left-hand channel with the outside of his boot. Tussling for the ball with defender Matthew Kilgallon, the muscular striker tumbled to the ground, and referee Trevor Kettle, without hesitation, awarded a free kick 20 yards from the Leeds goal. Hendrie, cool and composed, curled the ball right-footed over the wall, and beyond the reach of goalkeeper Neil Sullivan.

A brilliant start for Stoke and an historical one too; it was the first goal they had scored at Elland Road in six matches, a record stretching back to August 1986. It was a dreadful start for Leeds., whose striker David Healy had gone close, forcing an exceptional reflex save from goalkeeper Steve Simonsen. Two goals in four second-half minutes finished off the match. Andy Griffin beat Sullivan at his near post with a powerful right-footed drive and then Danny Higginbotham rose above a static defence to head in a Hendrie corner. Just for good measure, Simonsen saved a poor 80th-minute penalty taken by substitute Robbie Blake, before Ricardo Fuller came off the bench, quite emphatically to score the fourth.

Star Man: Lee Hendrie (Stoke)

Player Ratings: Leeds United: Sullivan 4, Kelly 5, Butler 6, Kilgallon 6, Wright 6, Douglas 6, Derry 5, Westlake 5 (Stone 58min, 5), Lewis 5, Healy 6 (Blake 58min, 5), Horsfield 5 (Cresswell 26min, 6)

Stoke City: Simonsen 8, Hoefkens 7, Duberry 7, Higginbotham 8, Griffin 7, Diao 7 (Brammer 81min, 6), Delap 8, Russell 7, Hendrie 8 (Chadwick 84min, 6), Pericard 7 (Fuller 66min, 7), Sidibe 6

Scorers (Stoke City): Hendrie 7, Griffin 58, Higgginbotham 62, Fuller 88

Referee: T Kettle

Attendance: 18,173

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