Leeds United ended their run of four games without a win with victory over Bolton at Elland Road.

Caleb Ekuban broke the deadlock after three minutes, volleying home his first Championship goal from eight yards.

The hosts doubled their lead after the break when Pablo Hernandez met the rebound from Ezgjan Alioski's shot.

Adam Le Fondre pulled one back for the visitors, heading Sammy Ameobi's free-kick beyond the arms of Bailey Peacock-Farrell.

Leeds could have extended their lead in added time when substitute Samuel Saiz played Ekuban into a one-on-one with Ben Alnwick, but the Bolton keeper stood firm.

Paul Heckingbottom's side dominated the opening exchanges, but Ameobi missed a chance to equalise when his driving run saw him fire narrowly wide after escaping Ronaldo Vieira.

Pontus Jansson's header on the stroke of half-time beat Alnwick but crashed against the bar, moments after Bolton defender Mark Beevers had nearly guided Eunan O'Kane's cross into his own net.

Victory gave Heckingbottom his second win as Leeds boss in nine attempts, while defeat for Bolton kept them six points clear of the drop, with Birmingham looking to close the gap when they host Ipswich on Saturday.

Leeds United boss Paul Heckingbottom told BBC Radio Leeds:

"We more than deserved the three points. The chances created were a positive but we should have been well in control of the game.

"We started both halves well and got the goal when on top. We defended well and Bailey only had two things to do all game.

"We had chances from set plays, chances from the counter, chances from good plays. Ben Alnwick made two world class saves but then he made two saves smothering the ball when we should have aimed straight at him, and then we let him off five or six times."

Bolton manager Phil Parkinson:

"Today was a setback. We started slowly. We always knew coming here today - in front of a big crowd against a team that could've potentially been nervous - we needed to start well.

"At 2-0 down we could've let our heads drop but we didn't. We got the goal back and we had a couple of good chances to get the equaliser.

"We've got to give our lads credit that they kept going but equally we need to analyse the start of the game and what we need to do better.

"We know we've got to get at least three more wins. That's our aim. We've got ourselves in a good position and we're confident we can achieve that."