Diego Llorente made a goalscoring return to action for Leeds United in this afternoon's under-23s match against Stoke City.
The defender opened the scoring on 28 minutes when he headed in a Kalvin Phillips cross at the backpost at Thorp Arch.
Table-topping Leeds went in 1-0 at half-time with Llorente substituted at the break following an encouraging performance for Mark Jackson's side and would go on to hold to that narrow scoreline and extend their lead at the top of the Premier League 2 Division 2 table to eight points.
Injuries have restricted Llorente to just one appearance in a Leeds shirt this season, when he came of the bench against Chelsea in last month's Premier League defeat at Stamford Bridge.
The Spain international picked up an initial groin injury while on international duty shortly after joining from Real Sociedad for £18million this summer and suffered another injury following his Whites debut.
Marcelo Bielsa admitted that Leeds were being cautious with his return and after being named on the first-team bench for Saturday's Elland Road defeat against Brighton & Hove Albion he made his first start in a Leeds shirt in the Premier League 2 clash.
Mark Jackson's side also featured Kalvin Phillips, who was suspended from the Brighton defeat, plus fellow first-teamers Helder Costa, Tyler Roberts and Ian Poveda. Sam Greenwood, who made his first-team debut in the FA Cup defeat at Crawley Town also started.
Llorente, Phillips and Roberts were all substituted at the break with Leeds going on to soak up late pressure on their way to a fifth consecutive victory.
