Kilkenny, 22, was on loan at Oldham Athletic but that deal ended last week and he returned to Birmingham City for his fate to be decided.

City had hoped to find a new loan club for the rising star after deciding there wasno place for him at the club.

Oldham put in an offer to turn his loan deal into a permanent move and had agreed a price for himbut Doncaster Rovers also put in a bid to loan the Aussie.

But from nowhere Leeds United suddenly begged Birmingham to release Kilkenny to them as an emergency loan for their game against Northampton at the weekend.

Birmingham agreed and Kilkenny rushed to meet his new team-mates...then putin a man of the match performance for the beleagured side fighting to overcome hefty points deductions.

He set-up the final two of Leeds' goals in the 3-0 victory from set pieces and shone brightly throughout the match.

Leeds yesterday moved swiftly to sign Kilkenny up and agreed a deal with City yesterday.

Today Kilkenny told the club's website: "There were a few clubs interested, but once I heard from the manager here I couldn't turn it down.

"The manager was a great midfielder and the team are doing well. I thought I could learn a lot from the manager and it could only make my game better."

And he was delighted by his sparkling debut for the club.

"I came in and the manager said he was going to play me, and I was taking free-kicks and corners, I jumped at the chance," he said.

"It was nice to win the game, you can't ask for much more that. Most teams will come here and play 4-5-1 - I noticed that - and we had a lot of possession and had to break them down."

New boss Dennis Wise sang his praises after the game.

"I was pleased with the whole team but Neil Kilkenny made us tick. He is a very good footballer and his passing was excellent," he said.

"I wish I'd had him before now because he is an excellent addition to our squad. He has given us a real lift."