KENNY Jackett was left to count the cost of another toothless display in front of goal from his Millwall forwards on Saturday.
The Lions were again punished for the lacklustre finishing which has seen them hit the net just once in their previous five home games.
Millwall had dominated for an hour of the game, their play and commitment matching the thunderous chants from the season's best crowd of 13,395 at The Den.
However, a host of chances went begging and the Lions' wastefulness was punished when David Prutton's superb strike on 69 minutes squeezed into the bottom corner and past the sprawling Rhys Evans in the Millwall goal.
Leeds, who will find out the results of their arbitration hearing on May 1 to get their 15-point deduction overturned, then finished the contest and cemented their position in the play-off places nine minutes later when Andy Hughes tapped in from Bradley Johnson's cross.
advertisement
"We need to score when we're on top," said a frustrated Jackett after the game.
"Right now I'm disappointed with the result because I really felt there was something there for us. But that's the story of our season."
The deafening atmosphere created by both sets of fans was unrelenting, despite a quiet start to the game on the pitch as efforts from Millwall's Jay Simpson and Leeds' Anthony Elding were the only threats to the scoreline in the first half hour.
However, the home side finished the half with a flurry of chances which saw Ahmet Brkovic, Bas Savage and Tony Craig all fail to find the net when they should have done better.
The pressure continued at the start of the second period when Jem Karacan's drive smashed into the underside of the bar before Simpson, who put in his best performance in a Millwall shirt since his loan move from Arsenal, fired agonisingly wide from 25 yards.
But it was Leeds who made the breakthrough when the experienced Prutton struck a fine half-volley from the edge of the box which Evans could do little about.
From this point on, Leeds began to dominate the possession and chances and it was little surprise when substitute Hughes tapped in from three yards to put the result beyond doubt.
Leeds could have extended their lead when David Martin, the Millwall winger, had to head over his own bar late on.
But Gary McAllister's men will settle for an away win which could potentially extend their season into the play-offs and pushes Millwall closer to the relegation zone.
If you liked this article and would like to share it with others on the web who might be searching for good content we've made it easy for you to do it.
At the bottom of all articles, you'll see links to six sites. These sites - commonly called 'social bookmark' or 'social news' sites - have large communities of web users who share and rate interesting, useful and fun things on the web.
Clicking the links will automatically add the address of the story you are reading to one of these sites, letting you share it with others. Each site will ask you to register to share stories. Registration is free and once a member, you can store, recommend and search for stories that interest you.