It was another step in the right direction for Leeds United at the weekend, with the Whites back to winning ways in the Championship thanks to a 2-0 win over Wigan Athletic.

Leeds were frustrated by Nottingham Forest on matchday 2, but weren’t to be denied by 10-man Wigan.

Joe Williams’ first-half red card helped Marcelo Bielsa’s side out, but Leeds put in a good performance to professionally move past the Latics.

Patrick Bamford’s goals did the damage, with his first coming in the 34th minute after Adam Forshaw had struck the post. The second came from a Barry Douglas corner, which was powered in by the 25-year-old.

Bielsa’s No.9 had come in for criticism for his performance against Forest in the past week, but this was more like it from Bamford and Leeds.

Here, we look at THREE things we learnt about the Whites against Wigan on Saturday afternoon…

These goals are important for Bamford

 

Bamford strikes many fans as a confidence player, and goals do really make him tick.

Neither of his strikes against Wigan were that impressive, but he was in the right place to convert, which is all fans want to see.

Bielsa noted how important these goals are to Bamford in his post-match press conference, and the striker should now be brimming with confidence ahead of taking on Pontus Jansson and Brentford.

There’s not as much reliance on Hernandez

Hernandez had a quiet game on Saturday, by his usual standards, but others stepped up to be a threat.

Many thought it’d be Helder Costa sharing that burden, but Jack Harrison and Adam Forshaw are in fact the ones doing that.

Harrison has started the season well, whilst Forshaw deserves a mention for his best outing to date in a Leeds shirt.

The midfielder linked play well with his neat passing game, and also came close to opening the scoring; heading a cross onto the right post before Bamford converted.

If Forshaw can add goals to his game, he’s going to be looking like the complete midfielder.

Ben White and Liam Cooper can deal with a big presence

 

When Pontus Jansson departed and Ben White came in, you did wonder whether Leeds’ defence could deal with the physical side of the game.

Jansson was the one to take a striker by the scruff of the neck, whilst White is a classier central defender.

However, in Kieffer Moore, White and Liam Cooper came up against a really physical focal point, who won a lot of headers and forced a battle.

The pair dealt with that challenge very well, with this another showing that Leeds might be fine without Jansson.