Luciano Becchio headed two goals as Leeds bounced back from their 4-0 trouncing at Bury by demolishing Hartlepool 5-0 at Victoria Park.

Manager Simon Grayson, who read the riot act to his players at Gigg Lane, was a much happier man on Saturday.

He said: “We got the basics right and worked hard as a team. We were a threat but we still need to be better collectively and individually if we want to progress.

“There were some good goals and although the score-line was five it could quite easily have been double that.”

Leeds used a five-man midfield, with Becchio roaming alone up front while Robert Snodgrass and Lloyd Sam provided the width.

Leeds took just five minutes to open the scoring. Goalkeeper Shane Higgs, brought into the team in place of Kasper Schmeichel, launched a long kick and as Becchio challenged keeper Scott Flinders, Snodgrass picked his spot from just inside the penalty area.

Simon Grayson’s men looked much sharper than they did at Gigg Lane and Becchio had a 12th-minute header cleared off the line following a corner.

Leeds extended their lead five minutes before half-time. Sam sent over a cross which Flinders failed to deal with, enabling Becchio to scored with a 12-yard header.

Then, on the stroke of half-time, Jonny Howson’s short free-kick was headed in by Bradley Johnson to underline Leeds’ superiority.

The impressive Howson scored Leeds’ best goal of the afternoon, finishing off a fine move by Aidan White and Sam with a left-foot shot which went in off a post.

Hartlepool substitute Gary Liddle headed against the bar after a corner but Becchio’s second header made it 5-0 in the 68th minute.

United will travel to Norway tomorrow for Tuesday night’s friendly against SK Brann, of Bergen, before taking on Premier League side Wolves at Elland Road on Saturday.