Hendrie has been a pivotal figure since his arrival at the Britannia Stadium at the end of September on a three-month long loan from Villa Park although, ironically, on this occasion Stoke played better in the second-half without Hendrie than they did with him in the first.

That, however, would be underestimating the former England star's impact on the club. With Hendrie, Stoke have won 11 and drawn two of their last 17 games and transformed themselves from early-season strugglers into strong promotion contenders.

He limped out of the action with a knee injury at half-time, although not before having a major say in the outcome by setting up Mamady Sidibe for the opening goal as Leeds were once again eventually found wanting away from home.

Said Pulis: "Lee was struggling and we had to take him off. What happens next is between us and Villa. The position is being dealt with and for the moment I would want to leave it at that."

If, as it seems likely, Hendrie returns to the Potteries next month, it will almost certainly be on loan for the remainder of the season.

Stoke are also in negotiations to bring another of their loanees, defender Andy Griffin, back from Portsmouth in the New Year, possibly on a permanent deal, and Pulis must be quietly delighted with the way his squad strengthening is progressing with the support of his chairman Peter Coates.

His opposite number at Leeds, Dennis Wise, needs to recruit equally impressively in the January transfer window if he is to prevent the club slipping out of the top two divisions of English football for the first time in its 87-year history.

Despite a mini-revival after Wise's appointment in October, Leeds have failed to win any of their last seven games and they were thankful that Barnsley's defeat at home to Sheffield Wednesday earlier in the day keeps them only five points short of safety.

They bounced back from Sidibes 10th minute goal, the Mali internationals second in two games, to equalise through Ian Moores 40th minute header.

On-loan Ugo Ehiogu then had a second-half he will want to forget, firstly deflecting Patrik Berger’s 53rd-minute shot past goalkeeper Tony Warner and then colliding with Warner as both went for Liam Lawrences long ball to allow Ricardo Fuller to roll his shot into an empty net.

The defeat would have been heavier had Berger, Sidibe and Fuller made more of late chances.

Leeds will find few sympathisers with their plight beyond Elland Road, but there were words of comfort from their former player, now Stoke captain, Michael Duberry.

Duberry, not always the most popular figure during his time in South Yorkshire, was magnanimous in victory, saying: "I've still got friends at the club and I don't like to see them in this sort of trouble. They are a big club and I've got fond memories of my time there, even though the reception I got from some of their fans suggests there's not much love coming my way.

"They are in a dogfight now and it's all about rolling their sleeves up. In Dennis Wise they have a manager who leads from the front. Whether the players can follow the manager's example remains to be seen, but if at the end of the season they are fourth from bottom I will be delighted."