Leicester City 0, Leeds United 1

Simon Grayson was not surprised to see his Leeds side respond to their midweek mauling by Blackpool with an impressive 1-0 win at Leicester, who were again under the caretaker-manager team of Jon Rudkin and Mike Stowell.

The Whites conceded five home goals for just the second time in their history on Wednesday, but left the Midlands in far better spirits today thanks to Adam Clayton’s wonder strike midway through the second half.

Such responses have been a hallmark of Grayson’s three years in charge of the club – last year they went on a 12-game unbeaten run following a 4-0 home defeat to Cardiff – and the former Leicester skipper fully expected his players to perform in the manner they did.

“I’m delighted. We’ve been at both ends of the spectrum with a 5-0 thumping and then this,” he said.

“Wednesday was difficult to take but I got the response I expected. It was a really good team performance.

“We were dogged, resilient and created some good chances. Leicester are a good team and we showed we have a lot of character and spirit among the group.”

Clayton’s 69th-minute winner was the only real moment of quality in what was a tepid game.

He curled a 25-yarder beyond the reach of former Leeds keeper Kasper Schmeichel to give his side a first win at Leicester since goals from Mark Viduka and Robbie Fowler nine years ago secured a 2-0 success.

“That performance doesn’t show me anything new,” Grayson added. “I see the players every day in training and nine out of ten times we always seem to respond to disappointments.

“We had a 4-0 drubbing against Cardiff last season and then went on a long unbeaten run. There is a desire to succeed here.”

Grayson had to reshuffle his defence to deal with the fall out of the Blackpool result.

Goalkeeper Paul Rachubka was axed following his three calamitous errors – loanee Alex McCarthy debuting – and veteran Andy O’Brien was drafted in for a first appearance since August.

O’Brien was booed off by his own supporters during a Carling Cup tie earlier in the season, and Grayson was pleased to see him impress on his return to the side.

“The two centre halves (O’Brien and Patrick Kisnorbo) have not played so much over recent weeks and months and they were outstanding,” Grayson said.

“Andy has been training really well and deserved his place. He is tough and has worked hard. I backed him and he backed me with his performance.”