POLITICIAN and novelist Edward Bulwer-Lytton famously claimed that the pen was mightier than the sword.

For improving Leeds United, it's a pen that has helped put opponents to the sword.

Football has always been a game of superstitions, be it Don Revie's customary blue suit or Stuart Pearce's stuffed horse 'Beanie' who presided over every Manchester City match alongside the former England defender.

Current Leeds manager Simon Grayson is no different.

Picked up in the build-up to his side's trip to Glanford Park in October, when pressure was starting to grow on the Yorkshireman, a lucky pen has helped draw a whole different picture at Elland Road.

"I got it before the Scunthorpe game 12 games ago," explained the former Blackpool manager, who guided United back into the second tier during his first full season in charge last year.

That Jonny Howson-inspired 4-1 win at the Iron's expense has since inspired a virtual transformation in fortunes.

Defeat against high-flying Cardiff a fortnight ago, after which Championship clubs took a break from league combat to take part in the FA Cup, was Leeds' first loss in 12.

Grayson admitted following that reverse that the pen 'nearly went out of the window' but it remains at Elland Road – no doubt to the dismay of Arsenal, who played host to Leeds last weekend in the third round of football's most famous cup competition.

Quite apt then that that game proved a tale of two pens.

Robert Snodgrass' 54th-minute spot kick gave the away side a deserved lead at the Emirates, one they held until stoppage time when Ben Parker carelessly tugged at the shirt of Theo Walcott, earning Gunners captain Cesc Fabregas the chance to tuck home a penalty of his own and book another meeting between the two.

On the verge of another cup upset – having turned over fierce rivals Manchester United on their own turf during last season's competition – Grayson could have been forgiven for being downbeat at such a late, sickening blow. Far from it.

That's because out of a clash with Arsenal, and the hosting of Scunthorpe tomorrow, there is only one priority.

"I said beforehand that the most important game out of Arsenal and Scunthorpe was Scunthorpe," said the Leeds United chief this week.

"That's still the case. It's our bread and butter.

"Arsenal's been another great experience for us but, as I've said over and over again, more important than that is Scunthorpe.

"The lads will have their focus on that game now, with Arsenal to come again.

"I'd have swapped any result against Arsenal for three points against Scunthorpe and we've achieved part one of what we needed to do this week. I want a result tomorrow as well."

Leeds' league focus is understandable given that Grayson, pen or no pen, has reinvigorated the club's belief that they will swiftly be dining at English football's top table once again.

After their draw at the Emirates, one national newspaper said the West Yorkshire club's cup exploits were proof that the once proud Peacocks were merely 'on loan' to the Football League.

In a matter of months that could well have been proved to be the case.

To coin another Bulwer-Lytton adage, Leeds, where the arrogance of sections of supporters is one reason why they are hated by so many outside of Elland Road, have had to mix it with 'the great unwashed' during the last few years.

But under Grayson, the mud that had stuck during financial woes and a slide into the third tier has been washed away, to reveal a much brighter future.

That is why no amount of FA Cup glory will cloud the club's focus for the second half of the season, unlike 12 months ago, when that Manchester United win and two fourth round meetings with Spurs hogged much of the talk at Elland Road.

"It's to the players' credit that they haven't taken their eye off the ball since the draw was made," Grayson further reflected of last weekend's trip to the Emirates.

"They were warned that if they concentrated on the Arsenal game then they wouldn't play in it, they'd be sat in the stands.

"Some people felt that the cup was a hindrance to us last season, but there were many other contributing factors in the slight dip we had.

"I want the players to look at the experience of playing Arsenal as an example of what we can do in the future."

Fifth in the table and just two points adrift of an automatic promotion place heading into tomorrow's meeting with the Iron, that now famous pen is writing a brand new chapter at Elland Road.