Leeds United 1 Birmingham City 1

LUKE Murphy’s late leveller earned Leeds what could prove to be a vital point in their battle to stay in the Championship.

Up until the midfielder’s 85th-minute strike it was blue and not purple that had looked like being the colour at Elland Road with United falling further into the relegation mire.

The Whites had gone seven games without a win prior to this and outspoken owner Massimo Cellino went against his fear of the colour purple in order to negate his other superstition, the number 17 that marked this game on the calendar. But the Italian’s purple scarf was not enough to stop in-form City going ahead through a Paul Caddis penalty, and that was the way it looked like staying until Murphy’s intervention.

Coach Neil Redfearn praised his Leeds players for their grit.

After another strange week at Elland Road which saw owner Massimo Cellino launch his appeal against a Football League ban and also allow star man Stephen Warnock to leave for Derby, United appeared to be heading for defeat until Murphy’s timely intervention.

“We played well, we deserved to win and got in front of goal enough times to win a couple of games. We looked tentative but the performance, the grit and determination was there.

“If you’re fighting, you’ve got a chance. If we’d have scored ten minutes earlier we’d have won,” Redfearn said.

Redfearn reserved some special praise for Murphy, the game’s outstanding player. Signed from Crewe in 2013, Murphy has been a target for the terrace boo boys as a result of failing to live up to his seven-figure fee.

But a former midfielder himself, Redfearn has been pleased with how Murphy has reacted to his coaching.

“He’s done nothing but impress me. I had a good chat with him a month, six weeks ago to try and get him in a better place,” Redfearn added.

“But he’s brave, he doesn’t hide, gets on the ball and shows qualities you’d admire.”

Redfearn added that he wants striker Billy Sharp, understood to be the subject of interest from Ipswich, to stay, although whether Cellino shares his view remains to be seen.