Okafor replaced Lukas Nmecha in the 77th minute and struck the decisive goal with his first touch two minutes later as Farke’s side halted a five-game winless Premier League run.

The Switzerland forward has been restricted to bit-part roles for much of this season as he nurses an adductor problem and Farke was grateful for his match-winning contribution.

“The doctor said no chance to involve him. He’s just back on the other side of the international break,” Farke said after his side’s third league win of the season.

“Our medical department said, ‘boss, listen. You can’t bring him on longer than 15 or 20 minutes. This is what the muscle can’t handle’.”

Farke added: “We decided then to take Noah with us because he can always produce a moment of magic and I’m pleased for him. Thank God we also took the risk with Noah. It’s an important three points, of course.”

Leeds were denied a first-half penalty shout when the ball appeared to strike Mateus Fernandes on the arm, while Leeds defender Jayden Bogle avoided a red card after catching Mathys Tel ‘studs-up’ on his Achilles.

Both incidents were checked by VAR, who concluded Bogle’s challenge was not serious foul play after a lengthy delay.

Farke had not watched either incident back and added: “I can guarantee that (Bogle) would never, ever injure a player on purpose or not even foul a player on purpose because he’s a great character.

“I didn’t have the chance to watch the scene back, perhaps it looked a bit like it is, but it was never intentional.

“And this is probably why the VAR then also said, ‘okay, it was not intentional and for that, not a red card’. This is at least what I thought.”

Tottenham have turned their season around after failing to win any of their first six matches, with three straight wins propelling them up the table.

But after an even first period at Elland Road, the Londoners were over-run for long periods in the second half.

Boss Roberto De Zerbi said he had not watched footage of either incident either, but was unhappy with referee John Brooks after his side lost for the first time in five matches.

Tel was forced off soon after Bogle’s tackle and De Zerbi said: “I don’t know if it was a red card or not on Mathys Tel, but for sure Pedro Porro yellow card (for his second-half challenge on Nmecha).

“And why I’m telling like this is because the parameter of the referee was not good enough, I think, for both these situations.”

De Zerbi added: “Today I didn’t see the same Micky van der Ven, the same Sandro Tonali, the same [Mohammed] Kudus, but it’s normal, no?

“It’s a normal step in our journey. The most important is to be honest and to recognise the problems and to improve because my players are good people and good players.

“And if you are good as a man, you understand your mistakes and you can improve quickly.”