James Trafford had a brief flashback to a previous Yéremy Pino free-kick as the Crystal Palace man shaped to shoot in the second half of Sunday's 0-0 draw.
Pino found the net against Trafford's former club Manchester City earlier this season with a spectacular free-kick that struck the woodwork and went in off Gianluigi Donnarumma. Against Leeds and Trafford, the Eagles' set-piece maestro opted for a different approach, going for the bottom left-hand corner. The England international proved equal to it.
"In my head, I knew about his free-kick that he had against City, which was a little bit further out and he was good," he said. "But because it was so close, I knew it'd be hard for him to get it over. So I just had to wait and then see where he put it, and he put it there and I saved it."
That was one of very few occasions when either goalkeeper was called to make a significant save. It was a stalemate of few golden opportunities but Trafford felt Leeds got the better of it before the break.
"I thought, first half, we created some good chances and then second half, it was a bit even," he said. "They were good. We were a little bit sloppy and the game probably could have gone either way second half. So yeah, it's a good point. We're still unbeaten and it's a clean sheet. There's a lot of positives."
Coming off the back of a 4-1 win over Newcastle United, the stalemate gave Trafford and his team-mates some mixed emotions but they go into the international break unbeaten in the league.
"Obviously, at home, we want to win every game," he said. "We believe that we can win every game, and today wasn't our day. We've got high standards for ourselves, and after every game we've tried to improve, and that's what we've done. It's a little bit disappointing that we didn't win, but we didn't get beat, so we go on to the next."
Trafford will now link up with the Three Lions for England's games against Spain, Czechia and Croatia. "It's a great feeling to get in the squad again, it's a brilliant feeling, and my focus goes onto that now," he added.
