To paraphrase a song popularised in English by Dinah Washington in the late 50’s: “What a difference six days make”.

Too forced? Perhaps, but probably not as strained as the smiles on Wales fans’ faces after their side’s loss on penalties against Poland.

One can only imagine what it must have been like for the players, who have certainly stepped up following their recent disappointment.

Nathan Broadhead scored the second in Ipswich’s crucial 3-2 win over fellow promotion chasing Southampton on Monday, but it is perhaps Leeds’ Welsh contingent whose performance is most impressive.

Having played 120 minutes in Wales’ penalty defeat against Poland both Ethan Ampadu and Joe Rodon played the full 90 in both their side’s 2-2 draw at Watford on Friday and their 3-1 home win over Hull on Monday.

The pair are part of a quartet of Wales players at Leeds alongside Dan James and Connor Roberts with the former also playing the full 90 minutes in both games whilst Roberts missed both with the injury he picked up during the penalty defeat to Poland.

Due to Roberts’ injury James was forced to move to right wing-back against Poland and his speed in the attacking third was clearly missed.

But what Wales were unable to utilise, Leeds did to great effect with James playing a key role in his side’s win over Hull.

He was involved in the first goal winning the ball back on route to Sam Byrom’s opener and should have added an assist minutes later but his brilliant run and ball across the six-yard box was inexplicably spooned over the bar by striker Patrick Bamford.

But it was his side’s third which was his moment to shine.

With Hull pushing for an equaliser and seconds remaining, goalkeeper Ryan Allsop went up for a freekick. After Anas Zaroury’s shot was blocked by Rodon, former Swans striker Joël Piroe released James who’s curling shot bent in from the right touchline barely a yard into Hull’s half.

It was quite the moment for James who celebrated with a knee slide in front of the Leeds fans following a difficult week with his penalty saved by Wojciech Szczęsny during his country’s penalty loss.

“Coming back to club I was disappointed, but at the end of the day you’ve got to get on with it,” said James.

“From my angle once I’d hit it, I could always see it was going in and we dug deep in the end so I’m thankful to get the goal.”

Summerville called the goal a “screamer” whilst Roberts congratulated his Welsh teammate with a bear hug.

It was far from the perfect performance from Leeds with play-off chasing Hull missing several chances and scored when two on-loan Liverpool youngsters combined as Fabio Carvalho finished from Tyler Morton’s cross.

The goal came as a bit of a surprise especially considering Leeds’ defence had previously only been breached three times when Ampadu and Rodon had started together at centre back.

With fewer than five minutes remaining, Crysencio Summerville drove into the box and was clipped by Regan Slater with referee Josh Smith pointing to the spot.

After a brief disagreement between former Swans striker Joël Piroe and Summerville, the penalty winner took the spot kick, calmly putting the ball in the back of the net to send Leeds back to second in the Championship.

With seconds remaining Hull sent goalkeeper Allsop forward and James bent the ball home into an empty net from the halfway line to seal all three points.

“The lads were unbelievable tonight,” said James.

“Coming off the back of a draw away at Watford, we have to thank Summerville for winning the penalty and he’s a worthy winner of the player of the match award.

“It’s a massive win, going Friday to Monday after internationals is really tough, some lads didn’t arrive until Wednesday which makes things difficult.

“Hull came out and battled to the very end and thankfully we came out on top.”

Wales manager Rob Page had asked his players to find clubs which would give them more game time and both Ipswich and Leeds are certainly reaping the rewards with seven Wales players shared between them.

The win puts Leeds second, just a point behind Ipswich in the automatic promotion spots with six games remaining and a point ahead of Leicester who have a game in hand.

It’s going to be a battle royale for promotion and Wales will be right at the heart of it.