If Eddie Lewis is wondering if he wouldn't be better off back in his home town now that David Beckham has shown Los Angeles is the place where the big bucks are earned in soccer', he's not letting on.

The Leeds United winger is making suitably West Coast can-do' noises as he looks forward to the Championship relegation battle ahead.

"There's been a couple of changes to the squad and that's brought a real buzz to the place at the moment,' Lewis said.

"I'm not going to say this is the turning point - we've said that before - but I sense that everyone is determined to get it right."

With new boy Alan Thompson likely to fill the wide left midfield spot, Lewis could find himself playing out the rest of the season at left-back. But he has no complaints and predicts, "Hard work will get us out of this.' Another optimist, manager Dennis Wise, will see the positives that come from Leeds game against Birmingham being called off at the weekend.

He has an extra week to get his injured players fit, he has much needed time to work on his game plan with his new signings, and he may be able to make another dip into the transfer market before the visit of West Brom on Saturday.

The other side of the coin is that Leeds' position looks even more precarious after the weekend's other results than it did last Friday.

Southend United, who once looked dead in the water, moved level on points with Leeds, while Hull City stretched their advantage in the all important 21st place to six points. Wise would no doubt point out that Leeds were expected to lose at leaders Birmingham and, with the game now rearranged for Tuesday, February 27, they will hope City will have gone off the boil giving Leeds more chance of picking up those vital three points.

Tickets for the original game will be valid for the new date although no decision has been made yet about the possibility of refunds. Kick-off is 7.45pm.

Meanwhile, Hull have had their bid for one-time Leeds target David Prutton accepted by Southampton.

The 25-year-old former England Under-21 international joined Saints for £2.5million from Nottingham Forest in January 2003.

Prutton, who was born in Hull, is out of contract at the end of the season and Saints are keen to sell him now.