What The Papers Said
DAILY MIRROR
Simon Grayson last night admitted his two-goal hero Jermaine Beckford was lucky not to be sent off for elbowing Millwall keeper David Forde.
Beckford escaped with a yellow from referee Alan Wiley, despite clearly catching Forde in the face with his elbow and Grayson was hugely relieved.
"I've not seen it," said the Leeds boss. "There was a melee in there. People say Jermaine elbowed him. The referee has seen it and booked him. Whether that can change, I'm not quite sure.</p>
"The referee had to make a decision and gave him a yellow card and decisions like that can change games because he went on to score the second goal.
"It's disappointing if he has done something, but you get the breaks sometimes. Hopefully nothing else comes off the back of it."
Beckford tried to maintain that "nothing happened", but angry Millwall boss Kenny Jackett claimed Forde could be sidelined with a cut and bruising to his face.
"I've seen the goalkeeper's jaw and eye and they don't look good," said Jackett.
"He's got a fair bit of damage down the side of his face.
"Some key decisions just didn't go our way, but we also didn't do enough and we need to score more goals."
It was a real Jekyll and Hyde performance from Beckford and he opened the scoring after 32 minutes with a real peach. The excellent Robert Snodgrass found Beckford on the right of the area after a surging run. Beckford cut inside on to his left foot and curled the ball into the far top corner.
He said later: "I saw the goalie's positioning, fancied myself from there, gave it a go and it went in." Millwall thought they had scored midway through the first half when Gary Alexander claimed his back-post header from David Martin's centre had crossed the line.
The striker and his teammates wheeled away in celebration, but the assistant referee correctly kept his flag down, ruling that Leeds skipper Richard Naylor had hacked the ball clear after Casper Ankergren stopped it on the line.
Leeds kept up the pressure and Beckford blazed high and wide before Andy Robinson saw a drive deflected on to the roof of the net.
Lee Trundle also went close only for Forde to pluck his left-foot toe poke from the air. Then came Beckford's lucky escape in the 65th minute when after some pushing and shoving in Millwall's six-yard box before a corner, he aimed his right elbow into Forde's face.
And Beckford went on to inflict further damage on Millwall when he slotted home Leeds' second goal and his 23rd of the season in the second minute of stoppage time.
The win moves Leeds to within two points of sixth-placed Millwall and makes it five wins and a draw from Grayson's eight games in charge.
Grayson said: "Jermaine is a big player for us and he scored a goal out of nothing. He took it really well. He can be a big impact player."
BBC SPORT
Beckford may face 'elbow' probe
Leeds United's Jermaine Beckford is waiting to find out if referee Alan Wiley will report him for an incident in Monday's 2-0 win over Millwall.
The striker appeared to elbow goalkeeper David Forde and was shown a yellow card for the foul.
"The referee has seen it and yellow-carded him, so I'm not sure if that can change now," manager Simon Grayson told BBC Radio Leeds.
"I didn't see the incident, but will be disappointed if he has done something."
Beckford scored both goals in the 2-0 win at Elland Road to take his tally to 23 for the season.
Grayson added: "There was a melee and people have told me Jermaine has elbowed him.
"The referee, having seen it, had to make a decision and he chose the yellow card.
"Decisions like that can sometimes change games and it did because he scored the second for us."
DAILY MAIL
Millwall keeper Forde faces fitness fight after two-goal Leeds star Beckford gave him the elbow
Millwall boss Kenny Jackett faces a wait to see if goalkeeper David Forde will be fit in time for Saturday's trip to Stockport.
Forde suffered facial injuries following an ugly clash with Jermaine Beckford in his side's controversial 2-0 defeat at play-off rivals Leeds United on Monday night.
The Leeds striker, who scored both his side's goals, was caught on camera elbowing Forde in the face whilst challenging for a corner in the 65th minute.
Remarkably, he escaped with just a caution when he should have been sent off by referee Alan Wiley.
The Lions will wait to see if Wiley includes the incident in his official match report before discovering if they can take the matter further.
Forde suffered severe bruising and cuts to the side of his face and Jackett said: "Some big decisions didn't go our way. People will see these decisions.
I have seen my goalkeeper's jaw and eye and they don't look good. He's got a fair bit of damage down the side of his face."















