Rio left in lurch by new colleagues

There is little doubt Ferdinand has the class and pedigree which should prove as beneficial to Leeds as it did for West Ham in his formative years.

Yet, it came at an inflated price and was put sharply into perspective by the fact that, on this occasion, Leeds succumbed to a team that will never be able to afford an £18m signing, but have a bunch of players with 18-carat hearts.

Leicester boss Peter Taylor might yearn for the financial clout to bid for the Ferdinands of the football world but he has the sense to appreciate he possesses something no amount of money can guarantee - a collection of honest professionals who find inspiration in their team spirit and a burning desire to apply his tactical expertise.

Another victory and third place in the Premiership were achieved through these qualities.

Yes, Leeds were diabolically suspect at the back as O'Leary toyed with an unfamiliar three centre backs system to bolster his midfield, but they were destabilised and picked off by the sheer enthusiasm and exuberance of Leicester's early assault.

Their Wales international Robbie Savage said: 'Although Leeds have the makings of a great team and Ferdinand is genuine quality, I am convinced they were surprised how we got at them. Peter Taylor is doing a terrific job here and gives us terrific self-belief. We just love pitting ourselves against the big teams and this was a fantastic result. Now, perhaps, people might start taking us seriously.'

Leeds would certainly swap places with Leicester at the moment and might eventually do so before the end of the season if they heed the salutary lesson of this painful experience drummed home by O'Leary afterwards.

He said: 'The one thing I told the younger players is that you don't come to places like Leicester, give them a three-goal start and expect to retrieve it.

'The team we have to compare ourselves to is Manchester United. They would have known how tough it was going to be here, set out their stall not to give anything away and then, when the game had settled down, let their quality take over. We have quality, too. Rio Ferdinand played well but not the people around him.'

Anxious to take nothing away from Leicester, he added: 'It would be an injustice to them to suggest we came with our foot off the pedal because of the Champions League game at Lazio. We came to win.'

Despite a 75th-minute consolation goal from Mark Viduka, that objective was out of Leeds' reach after Savage had put Leicester into a eighth-minute lead followed by Ade Akinbiyi's far-post effort in the 17th minute and Gerry Taggart's third 12 minutes later.

The fact that all three were headers only increased O'Leary's alarm and Woodgate was made the scapegoat as the manager reverted to a back four. O'Leary revealed that he intends to keep to that tried-and-trusted defensive formation, which means Woodgate or Radebe can expect to be consigned to the substitutes' bench in future.

Taylor, on the other hand, was a satisfied man, although his delight is bound to be tinged with disappointment that Leicester's camaraderie could be undermined by the departure of Northern Ireland midfielder Neil Lennon this week in a £6m transfer to Celtic.