Neil Back says Leeds now have the belief they can stay in the Guinness Premiership after beating play-off chasing Wasps.
Leeds boss confident of beating the drop after back-to-back victories
Neil Back says Leeds now have the belief amongst the squad that they can stay in the Guinness Premiership after beating play-off chasing Wasps.
Ceiron Thomas kicked 18 points as Leeds ran out 26-10 winners at Headingley for a fourth win of the season and second in a row.
Leeds are now level on points with second-bottom Sale in the Premiership table, and Back says belief is growing.
"We always knew it would be extremely tough and it is proving to be so," he said. "But the belief and the commitment from the players belies where we are.
"Physically we have demonstrated from week one that we can compete. Where we have grown is our ability to deal with the mental pressure.
"That was added to on Friday night by Worcester's result and still they came out today with the belief that they could get the result.
Pressure
"Their game management, their ability to deal with the pressure and the decisions that goes against them is great. They are not now allowing those decisions to influence their game".
The former England flanker was unwilling to dwell too much on individual performances and was quick to commend the unity and spirit of his entire squad.
"It is about the whole squad it is not just about the 23 who took the field today, it is about the extended squad who were all in the stadium today," he said.
"Without their dedication throughout the week and strong commitment of the team we would not be where we are.
"Unless you have that huge belief, enthusiasm and competitiveness within your squad you are going to struggle but we have that in spades."
Melbourne-bound Danny Cipriani scored all the visitors' points with a converted try and a penalty, but could not stop the defeat which ended a run of three wins on the spin for Wasps.
Wasps struggles
Tony Hanks' team struggled to impose themselves throughout the contest, struggling particularly at the lineout and in containing Leeds' robust runners.
"They deserved that. Our lineout did not function and we have fallen off some tackles and when we did have the ball we probably didn't show that patient," he said.
"We are not happy with our performance. That is not a performance befitting a team that has aspiration to go through to the top four and be contenders.
"We have made some progress over the last two or three weeks but today was not good enough. And that is something we have got to make sure that we don't repeat. We've done that two or three times this year and that is not good enough."
Hanks believes Leeds, who have now beaten Wasps home and away this season, can beat the drop.
"Absolutely (they can survive). I even said coming into the week I admire what they have done," he added. "They have beaten us home and away - in my mind they definitely deserve to stay up.
"They should probably be in the Heineken Cup. They have the quality and they will win more games this season, there is no doubt in my mind."
