It was his shot which proved too hot to handle for Nigel Martyn, setting up Julio Arca’s 47th-minute opener, and then Kevin Phillips produced a brilliant volley eight minutes later to effectively wrap up the points and a 2-0 success.

Reid, who invested around £1m in the 30-year-old who played such a major part in the Republic of Ireland’s World Cup heroics, admitted even he has been surprised at just how good a player the former Liverpool midfielder is.

‘‘He’s been absolutely outstanding for us, I’ve got to say,’’ he said. ‘‘His quality has surprised me when I see him in training and on the pitch.

‘‘He’s done better than I thought he would, I must admit that.’’

There was fresh admiration too for Quinn, who despite his arduous trip to Iran in midweek turned in a display which kept the Leeds defence on its toes all afternoon.

‘‘It was clear to see he was shattered, but he did such a terrific job for us today,’’ he said. ‘‘He’s flown halfway round the world, he’s 35 and he still keeps doing it.

‘‘He’s a handful. If you get good quality into Quinn, he’s very difficult to defend against.’’

Quinn set up Phillips for his goal with a neat chest pass, but the manner in which the former Watford frontman dispatched it past the helpless Martyn went some of the way to answering the critics who believe he is not of sufficient quality to play for England.

‘‘I’ve read in a few papers some so-called experts saying he didn’t play well against Sweden,’’ Reid said.

‘‘Well I must have been at a different game - or those experts must have been on the white wine before the game - because I thought he played very well against Sweden.

‘‘He didn’t score, but his link-up play was good and he got on the end of things.’’

While Reid was understandably delighted by the result, opposite number David O’Leary was left fuming by referee Graham Barber’s decision to book Robbie Keane for diving when he though he should have been awarded a penalty for a 68th-minute trip by Bernt Haas.

There was also an ugly incident involving Emerson Thome and Alan Smith which went unpunished, and O’Leary admitted he had spoken to the official after the game.

‘‘The penalty is a disgrace,’’ he said. ‘‘I saw it straight away. I had a great view of it.

‘‘The referee has got to make an instant decision, but I thought it was a definite penalty. I just said to the referee ‘You have to act instantly, but be brave enough and big enough to say you’ve made a mistake when you see it again’.

‘‘But I didn’t think it was to be today. We gave a soft first goal away and it was about chances. They took theirs, good luck to them, but we didn’t take ours.’’