There was a much-improved performance from Leeds United on Tuesday evening as they secured a 1-1 draw with Brentford at Griffin Park.

Leeds entered the fixture after back-to-back defeats in the Championship and with a record reading just two wins in 10 league outings. And, whilst a win evaded them in London, there was an improved performance and positive result for a team void of confidence.

That lack of confidence was epitomised by goalkeeper Kiko Casilla on 25 minutes, when he let a back pass roll under his foot and Said Benrahma latched onto the loose ball to fire into an unguarded net: a bright Leeds start, undone in the cheapest of ways.

However, Leeds heads wouldn’t drop and Marcelo Bielsa’s side battled back, with Liam Cooper pulling the away side level 13 minutes later after a corner fell his way in the penalty area.

QUIZ: Can you name every Leeds United player’s shirt number?

An end-to-end second-half brought no more goals, but it was Leeds doing the majority of the pressing, with Helder Costa and Patrick Bamford wasting good chances to secure three-points.

Nevertheless, on a night that, at one point, looked like being a miserable one, there were plenty of positives to take from a Leeds perspective.

We take a look at THREE things we learned…

Kiko Casilla needs to come out of the firing line

The goalkeeper’s last convincing performance in a Leeds shirt came way back on December 10^th, when his clean sheet helped the Whites to a 2-0 win over Hull City.

Since then, mistake after mistake have crept into the Spaniard’s game, with unforgivable concessions coming in the last three games.

A looping Joe Williams corner beat him against Wigan Athletic and Sammy Ameobi’s near-post effort should’ve been kept out against Nottingham Forest, but the error leading to Benrahma’s goal was the worst of the bunch.

Leeds laid the most basic of passes the way of their goalkeeper in the 25^th minute, but with the slightest bit of pressure from Brentford’s attack, combined with a gasp from the overlooking away end, Casilla crumbled, allowing the ball to slip under his foot and Benrahma to pounce.

Pre-match there were calls for Illan Meslier – the impressive French youngster – to come into the side, but they were ignored by Bielsa.

Now, on the back of such a woeful error, Bielsa surely has to pull Casilla against Bristol City on Saturday before matters get any worse for the former Real Madrid man.

Kalvin Phillips is massive for this side

A rash challenge on Geoff Cameron in Leeds’ frustrating 1-0 defeat to Queens Park Rangers last month landed Phillips a red card and a three-match suspension.

Without him, the Whites picked up just three points from nine and fell to poor defeats against Wigan and Nottingham Forest. With him back, Leeds looked something like their best and made Brentford look fairly ordinary on their own patch.

Phillips broke up play well and had the measure of Mathias Jensen, Christian Norgaard and Josh Dasilva, with his combat midfield performance starving a lethal front-three of sustained ball.

Whilst his influence in stopping Brentford’s attack getting going was important, Phillips also brought the best out of those around him; with him holding the midfield, it seemed everyone else knew exactly where to be, and Mateusz Klich played an excellent game getting forward from a more advanced position.

The points dropped without Phillips in the side leave you thinking ‘what if’, but there are still 42 to play for in the Championship and the 24-year-old is going to be crucial to Leeds picking up enough to win automatic promotion.

A corner turned?

You can’t truly answer this until a few more fixtures have been played, but this was Leeds’ most convincing Championship performance since their draw with West Brom on New Year’s Day.

Bielsa’s side were on top of Brentford from the first whistle and only Casilla’s error marred a brilliant performance away from home.

There was an impressive 45-minute onslaught from Leeds to beat Millwall last month, but this was a sustained performance over the course of an entire game, which left fans filled with encouragement, despite the fact Fulham could leapfrog them in the table this evening.

Of course, it needs backing up over the rest of February, with Leeds facing the likes of Bristol City, Reading, Middlesbrough and Hull City, but on the evidence of this display, Bielsa’s side are ready get grapple back their hold on this promotion race and put a woeful run of form behind them.