Blake

Woody · Blake

Dennis Wise hailed Robbie Blake as Leeds' "little gem" after his double helped the hosts cruise to their second successive Elland Road triumph, a 3-0 defeat of Colchester.

Blake opened the scoring with a sweet left-footed shot in the 36th minute when some quick thinking wrong-footed Colchester's defence and continued to torment the visitors throughout.

He has now scored four goals in four games since Wise took charge and, after starting only three games this season before Kevin Blackwell's demise, he looks to be one of the biggest beneficiaries of the new regime.

He was lively and inventive throughout, operating with freedom and permission to express himself just behind Geoff Horsfield and Richard Cresswell as Leeds produced a performance full of energy and zip.

"Since I came here, Robbie has been our little gem," said Wise. "He's been fantastic.

"He put a good shift in today - not just things he did with the ball but his general work as well. He was fantastic again.

"I believe in him, Gus (Poyet, Leeds' assistant manager) believes in him and the team believes in him. He's got so much ability. He needs confidence and he's been doing great.

"He finds little places that other players can't find and he can hurt teams from there. That's what we want him to do."

Blake grabbed his second with a 51st minute penalty after Cresswell had been felled by Colchester's John White, coolly chipping Aidan Davison with a delicate spot-kick.

Cresswell had already met Eddie Lewis' pin-point cross with a thunderous header to put Leeds two goals clear before Blake's second took the tie well out of the visitors' reach.

And with better finishing, Blake could easily have had a hat-trick after missing two good chances during the opening stages.

But Wise will still be pleased with a determined performance from his troops, although he admitted he does not expect an instant turnaround in the club's fortunes.

"It takes a long time," said Wise. "It doesn't happen overnight, but they're working and we're starting to get a group of lads who want to do well together."

While continuing to plan for the future, Wise was coy on Leeds' chances of landing former Elland Road favourite Alan Smith on a short-term loan deal.

"If it happens, it happens," he said. "If the opportunity is there, I would like to take him."

Colchester manager Geraint Williams made a blunt assessment of his side's display.

He admitted: "That's our worst performance of the season.

"The effort was there but for the first time this season we weren't quite at the races and we didn't perform.

"We had too many players off form today. The quality wasn't quite there and you'll get punished in this division when that happens."

nice to post sumat positve

wewantourdarbyback

Do we actually have a chant for our best player?

Woody

I have never heard one , Pat is the girl to ask.

Guest

Woody

Laffin

Guest

Wasn't there something like:

"He's Fat, He's round, He bounces on the ground" for Brolin?