IF David Beckham is worth £30m, said the programme seller, what will Leeds get for Paul Robinson, Harry Kewell and Alan Smith? A lot less if they are First Division players, a prospect that remains a possibility after this defeat. It seems it’s not so much a question of “if” as “how much” at Leeds United these days. The fans at least know that talk of reducing the club’s £80m debt by a rights issue, or swapping debt for equity, is fanciful in the extreme.

Only the example of Leicester City, a club that has survived administration and managed to write off almost £50m in the process, offers hope — and they went down first. If West Ham win at Manchester City today, Leeds, with games at Arsenal and home to Aston Villa to come, will be a club on the edge in every respect.

“It’s tight, very tight,” conceded Peter Reid, whose role as manager has still to be confirmed beyond the end of the season. “We’ve got two very difficult games but at least it’s still in our hands. The players will always get goals, but will they be enough when we’re giving away sloppy goals? Not at the moment.”

Leeds were unchanged for the third successive match, not, as Reid pointed out, that this implied any sort of consistency on the part of the chosen 11. But having been awful at Southampton, they made enough of an effort in beating Fulham to justify Reid’s decision to leave Nick Barmby and the fit-again Lucas Radebe on the bench.

This meant playing Gary Kelly, a career full-back, in midfield, but the Irishman has pace. Had he timed his runs a little better, Leeds might have made an early breakthrough. When he beat the Rovers’ offside trap, his nerve failed for lack of support.

Leeds went ahead after 21 minutes of ineffectual sparring. Rovers’ full-back, Vratislav Gresko, lost possession to Mark Viduka on the halfway line and the Australian striker drew the central defenders and slipped a pass to his compatriot Kewell, breaking on his right. The midfielder’s right-foot shot was parried by goalkeeper Brad Friedel but the ball bounced up nicely for Viduka, who had continued his run, to head into the net.

That made it 12 goals in eight games for Viduka and he should have made it 13 moments later, but his control let him down.

Leeds looked comfortable enough and the half was drawing to a close when defender Michael Duberry handed Blackburn a way back into the match. David Dunn drove in a high corner from the right and Duberry, jumping with Martin Taylor, inexplicably raised his arm. Ball clearly hit hand, Dunn converted the penalty and Duberry was booked, presumably for idiocy. Kewell almost restored the advantage, his crisp shot from the edge of the area bringing a solid block from Friedel.

If the first half had been strangely bloodless, the second was a huge improvement as Leeds, presumably having been on the end of a few well-chosen words from Reid, set about Blackburn with a will.

Their efforts became increasingly desperate, however, and it was no great surprise when they were caught on the break. Dwight Yorke, who replaced Hakan Sukur, headed a long ball into Andy Cole’s path and although the centre-forward’s first effort was saved by Robinson, he followed up to poke the ball over the line.

Blackburn’s clincher was another horror show from a corner, Robinson coming for and missing Duff’s effort and Andy Todd side-footing home from close range. Smith’s brave header, reaching Robinson’s long punt before Friedel, abandoned by his defenders, could clear, was no compensation. Blackburn were down to 10 men at the time, Danny Mills having crumpled Gresko with a tackle that Rovers manager Graeme Souness considered unacceptable. On the other hand Blackburn’s first league win at Elland Road since 1959 left them in with a shout of Uefa Cup football.

“We came to a club fighting for its life but we dug in well. We were on the back foot for most of the second half but we were resolute and we took our chances when we got them,” said Souness, who added that the delight of winning was tempered by the injury suffered by Gresko, who was taken to hospital for an X-ray on his left ankle.

Leeds: Robinson, Mills, Duberry, Matteo, Harte, Kelly, Bakke (Simon Johnson 71), Wilcox, Smith, Viduka, Kewell.

Subs Not Used: Martyn, Radebe, Bravo, Barmby.

Booked: Duberry, Matteo.

Goals: Viduka 21, Smith 90.

Blackburn: Friedel, Neill, Short (Todd 66), Taylor, Gresko, Dunn (Johansson 51), Tugay, Flitcroft, Duff, Cole, Sukur (Yorke 61).

Subs Not Used: Kelly, Ostenstad.

Booked: Cole.

Goals: Dunn 38 pen, Cole 69, Todd 78.

Att: 38,062

Ref: P Durkin (Dorset).

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