'No crisis' at Elland Road as Bruce looks for Leeds unity

Four defeats from the last five games have seen the Elland Road club slide from fifth to 16th in the table to put a dampener on what had been a solid start to life back in the Championship.

With 15 goals having been conceded in those five outings, United fans have become concerned as to how the rest of the campaign is going to pan out.

However, Bruce last night insisted: "When you get beat 4-0 as we did against Cardiff (on Monday night), it is a difficult pill to swallow.

"But I think everyone could see what a good team Cardiff are. I think that they would have given quite a lot of teams a good drubbing.

"In the dressing room afterwards, what we said is that in this league there will be plenty of teams, probably all of them in fact, who at some stage will lose three games (in a row).

"What matters is that everyone rolls their sleeves up and sticks together. Players, management, supporters – everyone. It is not a crisis.

"We have played 13 games and are still only three points off sixth. We have to remain positive. If everyone starts worrying, that is when panic sets in. We have to stay positive and go get a win at Scunthorpe this weekend."

Monday's defeat was the sixth time United have been beaten this season. Following the 6-4 thrashing by Preston North End and a 2-1 defeat to Leicester City, it also marked the first time Leeds had lost three home games in a row since the early weeks of the 2006-07 campaign.

On the defeat to Cardiff, Bruce added: "There was a mix-up between me and Kasper (Schmeichel when the score was 0-0) that gave them the impetus.

"Sometimes you get carved open by top players and the key is to learn from it.

"The big positive was the fans were great and stuck by us. Everyone knows what Leeds supporters are all about.

"They turn up in their thousands every week. The away support, in particular, is phenomenal."

Cardiff striker Bothroyd has escaped punishment for his tackle on Luciano Becchio during Monday's game.

Bothroyd appeared to catch Becchio on the shin with a late challenge during the first half, although the Leeds striker was able to play out the match.

The tackle went unpunished at the time and the Football Association of Wales have also decided against taking any action, because the referee had seen the challenge.

Meanwhile, United have 300 tickets left of their 6,200 allocation for the trip to Coventry City a week on Saturday.