Nottingham Forest, the Tricky Trees as they are known to their fans, are starting to show shoots of revival. Sean Dyche picked up his second win in five games - after Ange Postecoglou's none in eight - though he will be thankful they faced a very poor Leeds United to get off the mark in the Premier League. A 2-0 win over Porto in his Europa League opener was followed by some up-and-down results, including a draw with Manchester United. But Sunday's 3-1 home win over fellow strugglers Leeds leaves them only in the relegation zone by one point now. They are still a shadow of the team that reached the Europa League last season - and for a while threatened the Champions League places - but after a wretched start to the campaign this is a huge improvement.

"It's a sign of the mentality changing," Dyche said. "We are on a run of one loss in five now. It's good to get that winning feeling back. I'm very pleased for everyone. The players have spoken openly about going through a lot."

BBC Match of the Day pundit Danny Murphy said: "It was a really big day for Forest all round. This felt like a huge game for Dyche, going into the international break and waiting for his first Premier League win. He has got it now, and the way they got it and the way they played is so positive too."

Dyche has worked with some attritional Premier League squads, at Burnley then Everton. But there are some real stars in this Forest team - which is mostly similar to the one which finished seventh last season - if he can get the most out of them. Captain Morgan Gibbs-White failed to land a move to Tottenham in the summer and some of his below-par early-season performances led to him coming in for criticism from his own club's fans. But he is looking better now and has scored three times in five games under Dyche - it would have been four if he had not missed a penalty against Sturm Graz on Thursday. His header from Omari Hutchinson's cross gave them a 2-1 lead - and he left to a standing ovation in the 88th minute. For a player not really associated with headers, four of Gibbs-White's past five Premier League goals have come with his head. Only Brentford's Kevin Schade has more headed goals in the Premier League this calendar year. Ideal for a Dyche team, some might say. Had he been on another couple of minutes he might have had the chance to take a penalty which Hutchinson won - with England's Elliot Anderson slamming in for 3-1 instead.

"He scored again - that's what you want from the players," said Dyche. "He's going about his business. The stories go away and he can relax and carry on. It's professional. Morgan has gone through a bit of noise. He had some question marks. I've said 'don't worry about that, enjoy what you're doing'. [It was about] Getting himself back to the basics. I want him to keep playing with a smile."

Dyche still has winger Callum Hudson-Odoi and prolific striker Chris Wood to return from injury too. It had looked until the hour mark as if Forest might have been in for a frustrating 1-1 draw, which would have changed the narrative somewhat.

"If it had gone the other way today, after losing to Bournemouth, drawing with Manchester United, one point out of three Premier League games means all of a sudden the discontent is there, especially at home," said Murphy.

But that is not what happened. Dyche brought on Hutchinson, Taiwo Awoniyi and Ryan Yates in the 59th minute. The changes instantly lifted the City Ground crowd, who were delighted with the positivity. And £37.5m summer signing Hutchinson had a big hand in the two goals, setting up Gibbs-White and winning the penalty.

"Being proactive won the game for Dyche, rather than trying to protect what they had got," said Murphy. "People have accused Dyche many times of being too negative, and this was a great example of him saying 'I've got the quality and we can win this game' - and bam, they did it that way. We see so many managers do it in the last 10 or 15 minutes - I think it was telling that Dyche made his changes here much earlier in the second half."

He added: "Now, the mood is very different, and all of a sudden everyone is looking up the table and thinking now they are only one win from getting out of the relegation zone."

Leeds actually took the lead in the 13th minute through Lukas Nmecha's clean strike - but they did not have another shot on target until the final 20 minutes. Their lead only lasted three minutes, with Ibrahim Sangare equalising soon after. Boss Daniel Farke said the fact "we gave the lead away too early and too cheap" was a "key moment". They worked hard but offered little. Their only win on the road this season was at rock-bottom Wolves. And what could have been a four-point gap over the bottom three is now one. Like Forest they looked better after making substitutions, with Daniel James and Dominic Calvert-Lewin the only two to force saves from Forest goalkeeper Matz Sels.

"Football games on this level are decided with small details. We have to make sure we are more switched on," said Farke. "We know our home form is always important. We could have made our life easier with some away points but it is how it is. I did expect a tricky period. We have conceded too many goals in the last two away games."