CRAIG Bellamy clearly doesn't believe in doing to others as they do to him.

Mark Hughes wants to handle the injury-troubled striker with care, only using him sparingly to prevent lasting damage.

But is Bellamy being as gentle to his opponents when he does get a chance to take them on? Not a bit of it.

In fact, he's been nothing but downright ruthless since he made his comeback as a sub in Saturday's win over Birmingham.

Then, he came on to open his Premiership account for Rovers and wrap up a 2-0 win.

And there was a similar lack of rustiness in evidence when Blackburn went one better last night, thanks to three brilliant Bellamy assists.

The Welsh striker seems keen to take this competition as seriously as his manager, who made only one unforced change from the weekend.

Bellamy was the hero of the second round win over Huddersfield as his first two goals in the blue and white gave Rovers a 3-1 win.

And the white rose of Yorkshire wilted again last night as Leeds failed to cope with the extra zip Bellamy injected into a team that was, before his introduction, looking slightly sluggish in the final third.

The substitute came on in the 53rd minute and he soon set about showing the full range of skills that make it obvious why Hughes wants to preserve his fitness for as long as possible.

There was deadly accuracy in the passing that laid on the first and third goals for Aussies Brett Emerton and Lucas Neill, while in between his lightning wing play laid on a second goal in consecutive games for Paul Dickov.

"Craig is a genuine talent and we know the qualities he has. That's why he was brought to the club, to give us something different and quality in the attacking third," said Hughes.

"What we have to do is get him on the pitch on a more regular basis. At the moment, we haven't been able to do that but we are trying a different tack with him.

"We are trying to ease him back in after a little bit of a scare but he looks strong, he looks fit and he's not far away now which is great news for us."

It all showed up just how much Rovers missed such a cutting edge before Bellamy came on.

They never looked like they would lose this tie against a Leeds side that was, at times awful, but the lack of either a decent final ball or convincing finish was costing Rovers dear.

It was just a matter of them being able to put the ball in the net and seeing the tie out, but in a frustrating first half, Neil Sullivan made saves came from Morten Gamst Pedersen and Robbie Savage free kicks, plus a shot by Dickov that was straight at him.

But in terms of attacking threat it was no contest as Leeds boss Kevin Blackwell, with a top four clash against Reading no doubt playing heavily on his mind, made the sort of changes Hughes wouldn't have dreamt of in his quest for Carling Cup progress.

After all, Reading are hardly Chelsea, which is who Rovers have next, but Hughes can now go to the runaway Premiership leaders on the back of five wins in six thanks to his policy of continuity.

Blackwell played a bizarre three-striker formation, which involved former Burnley duo Robbie Blake and Ian Moore, a partnership that once almost virtually guaranteed 30 goals a season.

But they had no happy reunion - in fact, they barely had a reunion at all given that Moore regularly drifted out to the right wing and the third forward, David Healy was looking equally lost on the left.

And Blackwell's indifference to this contest was perhaps summed up by the fact that, while Bellamy came on when it was goalless, the Leeds boss didn't unleash his top scorer Rob Hulse until it was 2-0 and game over.

So it was all really a case of when, not if, Rovers would get the goals to ease them through to the last 16.

The breakthrough came on the hour when Bellamy laid the ball off perfectly into the run of Brett Emerton, who celebrated his return to the starting line-up with a low drive into the net via a slight deflection off Dan Harding.

Emerton replacing David Bentley was, aside from Andy Todd's return as skipper in the wake of Ryan Nelsen's injury, Hughes's only change from the side that started against Birmingham - it was just one of those nights when all his calls came right.

No further proof of this was needed than the way Bellamy, after some beautiful interplay with Pedersen, left the tiring Leeds defence for dead and bent his cross away from Sullivan for Dickov to tap into the empty net with 13 minutes left.

United's lack of possession and penetration became all too frustrating for Gylfi Einarsson, the Icelander losing his cool with a lunge at Savage that earned him a red card.

Bellamy then dropped deep to take an inside pass from the continually dangerous Lucas Neill, who sprinted into the area to take the return ball and guide his first goal of the season past Sullivan.

"I want to progress in this competition," said Hughes later.

You couldn't find a more convincing piece of evidence to back that up than this performance.