United manager Simon Grayson admitted Tuesday's pre-season friendly at Grimsby was very much a game of two halves for his players.

Leeds were trailing 1-0 at half-time, following a disappointing first half display, but Grayson's side levelled after the break and were in command for much of the second period.

Luciano Becchio's goal ensured a 1-1 draw and, while League Two Grimsby impressed in the contest, the boss says he was pleased with the response he got from his own players after an "unacceptable" opening 45 minutes.

"It was another good work out, but I was hugely disappointed with our first half performance," hesaid. 

"You can blame numerous reasons for that - a long day travelling on Sunday, a very tough session on Monday - but the bottom line is that it was unacceptable and we said that at half-time.

"I dont care if it's a pre-season game - you have to show desire and passion, and in the first half we looked lethargic and didn't show any quality on the ball.

"I expressed my opinions, but the good thing was we showed a real positive attitude in the second half. The response was good and I was pleased with that.

"We played with a better tempo after half-time. I thought they all looked lively. We had opportunities, we hit the bar and we defended well."

SEE HIGHLIGHTS PLUS REACTION FROM GRIMSBY

While Grayson watched the 1-1 draw at Grimsby Town, first team coach Ian Miller and technical director Gwyn Williams watched another Leeds United XI go down 2-1 at Wealdstone on the same evening.

The Wealdstone game was arranged as part of the deal which brought striker Jermaine Beckford to Elland Road in March 2006 and the boss split his squad for the two games on the same evening.

"It was all about increasing the minutes on the pitch," said the manager.

"We have enough players to cope with the demands of two games like that.

"We had two strong teams and it was a great workout for the whole of the squad regardless of the scores."

And the boss was quick to stress that the splitting of the squad was not intended to give away any clues as to who will make up his preferred starting line-up come August 8.

"A number of the lads at Wealdstone were southern based," he said. 

"Others are players we're looking at it in different positions.

"There's no first team and reserve squad as such at this stage."