A routine Leeds win and a tantalising glimpse, perhaps, of the future of English football.

Precocious, youthful, raw, exuberant and, best of all, homegrown. All adjectives that have been married to David O'Leary's Premiership leaders this season but which on Saturday, for once, applied more to their opposition.

Step forward Joe Cole of West Ham and, if his performances continue to mature at the same rate as his already immense reputation, England.

Cole is football's equivalent of the cult movie The Blair Witch Project. A performer preceded by an abundance of hype, a player tipped for England honours by Glenn Hoddle before he had established himself in the reserves and by Kevin Keegan before he had started a senior game, a product of rumour and apocryphal anecdote.

As with the movie, a long line of critics is forming to pick holes in the legend. Any who were here for the final 20 minutes of this match would have been sorely disappointed.

Cole, 18 next week, arrived as a late substitute in an attacking midfield role and single-handedly transformed a game that for the previous hour or more had been shooting practice for a rampant Leeds.

"We suddenly looked brighter when Joe came on," said his manager Harry Redknapp. "He made all the difference. We looked to get him the ball and when he picks it up he frightens people to death.

"Maybe my days of resting him, leaving him out, are over. He's too good for that. I went for a more solid look today but the kid is too good not to play.

"He's already shown he can come on anywhere and do it. He came on in our UEFA Cup game in Bucharest and was the best player, he came on today and showed that nothing bothers him. He's just special." Had Frank Lampard been more fortunate with one of four good openings that came his way in the final 10 minutes, Cole might have been responsible for making a significant impact on the title race.

As it was, Ian Harte's well-claimed 57th minute goal was enough to move Leeds two points clear at the top, a mark of the maturing of O'Leary's own stable of young talent.

"Our lot are learning in the front line," said the manager in one of his well-rehearsed attempts to play down Leeds's title credentials. "If we can establish ourselves in fourth place then that will be great for them. But we won't be afraid to finish higher." Redknapp apparently ranks Leeds on a par with Manchester United and Arsenal, and ahead of Chelsea, as potential champions. We already know how he ranks Cole.

LEEDS UTD: Martyn, Kelly, Radebe, Woodgate, Harte, Bowyer, Batty, McPhail, Kewell, Smith (Huckerby 58), Bridges. Subs Not Used: Hopkin, Mills, Bakke, Robinson. Booked: Bowyer, Bridges. Goal: Harte 57.

WEST HAM UTD: Hislop, Ferdinand, Ruddock, Margas, Lomas, Foe (Cole 70), Lampard, Moncur, Keller, Wanchope, Kitson. Subs Not Used: Potts, Carrick, Newton, Forrest. Booked: Moncur, Foe, Lomas.

Referee: G Poll (Tring).