Leeds United escaped with a point they deserved away to Middlesbrough this past weekend.

It took a Kalvin Phillips leveller in the dying embers of 12 minutes of added time to move Marcelo Bielsa’s side top of the league, before Norwich’s thumping of bottom-of-the-league Ipswich Town.

Marcelo Bielsa named his side early once more ahead of the clash atop the Championship, and they found themselves a goal down just after the break courtesy of Lewis Wing.

Leeds weathered the storm after a shaky first half that saw Boro miss two guilt-edge chances.

All the facts and fixtures were in favour of Bielsa’s side, and they managed to leave the Riverside with the least they deserved heading into the remaining batch of games still in the hunt for automatic promotion.

With that said, here are THREE things we clearly learnt about Leeds after their 1-1 draw with Tony Pulis’ Middlesbrough.

Luke Ayling needs a break

There has been plenty of talk amongst Leeds United supporters that the defender has been out of sorts in recent weeks and has his continued inclusion in the side has been called into question.

Jamie Shackleton was impressive in the draw with Boro during his 22-minute cameo.

He was quicker, sharper and more direct on the ball and staked a claim for inclusion from the start in the coming weeks.

Questionable Bielsa methods paying dividends

Despite the training methods being intense and potentially causing burn-out among the Leeds side, their late showing in the win over Rotherham and the draw with Boro are showing they are staying switched on in the latter stages.

The methods may be physically demanding, but it has given the team a mental toughness heading into the final minutes of a game that remains in the balance.

This could be the ultimate pay-off come the end of the season if they need to call upon it in the coming weeks and months.

The Kemar Roofe, Patrick Bamford partnership could be a masterstroke

Roofe and Bamford had a plethora of chances which they failed to put away, but given different circumstances and opponents, they could well be clinical.

Bamford leading the line with the club’s top scorer playing just behind it could be a duo that bears plenty of fruit leading into the latter stages of the season.

There were flickers of what could be, the more it is persisted with, the better the partnership could become.