MARCELO Bielsa believes his Leeds United have the nerve to ride the white-knuckle Championship rollercoaster towards the Premiership.

Their 1-0 win against fellow promotion contenders Bristol City at Elland Road cemented second spot on an afternoon which saw other results go the Whites’ way.

The previous Saturday was definitely a downer after a tame loss at Nottingham Forest but Leeds were back on the upward curve with a powerful performance against the Robins on a windswept rain-lashed afternoon.

With other promotion rivals faltering, Bielsa will hope his side can now put together a run that sees them end their 16-year exile from the top flight – starting with another home game against Reading on Saturday.

But the Argentinian coach knows there will be more twists and turns in the remaining 13 games in a division where the unexpected can be just round the next corner.

However, he believes his small squad are more experienced than 12 months ago when they surrendered second spot on the run-in and ended up in the play-offs, bowing out at the semi-final stage to Derby.

“We are now experienced in every type of situation in the Championship,” said Bielsa. “I feel we have more resources to manage the different kinds of matches.

"But I cannot forget this season we were winning 3-0 and drew the match (against Cardiff)."

Leeds bounced back from defeat at Forest with a strong showing in the midweek 1-1 draw at Brentford and moved up a few more gears against Bristol.

It was the usual Leeds United home match template – lots of brilliant dominant attacking football with little end product.

Luke Ayling scored the only goal of the game early on against his former club and despite dominating the remainder of the match Leeds missed a host of chances to boost their goal difference.

Ayling knocked the ball home inside the box after a pinball scramble in the 16th minute that saw three efforts blocked before it fell to the full-back.

It was a fitting reward for an enterprising opening by Leeds who then had a close-range effort by Patrick Bamford ruled out for offside after the ball came back off the bar.

Bristol improved after the break and were appealing for a penalty when Ayling blocked a shot in the area. Referee Tim Robinson was not interested despite vocal appeals from City boss Lee Johnson and his coaching staff.

From then on it was Leeds who bossed the second half, but yet again could not reflect their dominance on the scoresheet.

Bamford looked destined to net but his shot from a few yards was kept out by goalkeeper Dan Bentley who made a stunning save a minute later to keep City in the game. Helder Costa latched onto a long pass and rounded Bentley only for the City goalkeeper to somehow stick out a hand and divert it behind for a corner.

Jack Harrison almost grabbed a crucial second goal but his effort came back off the crossbar. In truth, Leeds rode out the final few minutes in relative comfort to notch only their second win of the year.

Bielsa said: “We attacked well. We missed a lot of chances. We defended well and they created few chances. We ran a lot, we fought for every ball. The performance in general was positive. The players can adapt to this sort of weather easily because they are used to it.”

City boss Lee Johnson said that despite not being given a “stonewall” penalty his side were second best to Leeds throughout.

"In the first 15/20 minutes we didn’t accept that we needed to do certain things and have a bravery to go at the game," he said.

“At half-time I wasn’t best pleased. That’s not discrediting Leeds because they were very good. We just didn’t play like I want us to play.

“We did, for most parts of the second half, and I thought we made a game of it.”

Leeds United: Casilla, Ayling, White, Cooper, Dallas, Phillips, Klich, Hernandez (Shackleton 90), Harrison, Costa, Bamford (Augustin 75). Subs (not used): Meslier, Douglas, Berardi. Cautions: Dallas, Klich

Bristol City: Bentley, Dasilva, Kalas, Williams, Baker, Eliasson (Palmer 74), Massengo, Henriksen, Paterson (Diedhou 60), Weimann (O’Dowda 34), Wells. Subs not used: Wollacott, Hunt, Rowe, Benkovic. Cautions: O’Dowda, Kalas

Referee: Tim Robinson; Att: 35,819