In the midst of all the speculation of who is or not going to buy Leeds United, there is the important matter of a football match taking place tonight, as we try to complete the double over play-off rivals Ipswich Town.

There’s no doubt that the draw-out takeover saga has been a distraction and a hindrance to Brian McDermott , so it’s no surprise that he told the Yorkshire Post that he needs the ownership situation to be resolved as soon as possible, to make sure it doesn’t start to affect the performances on the field.

“Let us get this business out of the way so we can stop talking about it, then we can move on. That is what I think is absolutely key, first and foremost. It is not easy at the moment. These are difficult times, there is no doubt about that. For myself and for the staff, we try and keep this away from the players. The players will go out and do their jobs against Ipswich, absolutely.”

And he told the official site that we need to maintain the improvement we saw against Leicester, but we also need a win to end our miserable run of results. “It is important because we want the three points. We know that if we can get a couple of back-to-back wins then we have got a major chance of getting in the top six.”

Leeds have no new injury problems, but Matt Smith will be serving the second match of his three game ban. Luke Varney is likely to deputise, despite the interest he has attracted from Blackburn during the transfer window. McDermott will keep the 4-4-2 formation that worked well against Leicester, and says that he has done a lot of with the team over the last 10 days. So hopefully the two wingers will look a bit fitter tonight, and a bit more accustomed to playing with their new colleagues.

The manager is expecting a physical battle tonight, against an Ipswich side with a good away record.
“Mick (McCarthy) is a great guy and a fantastic manager who has had a lot of success. What he did for Wolves was terrific and I’m sure they rue the day they let him go.”

Their form over the last few months seems to be following ours, as they stormed into the play-off positions in November and December with a run of four wins and two draws, only to tail off coming into the new year. Their 2-0 win against Reading in the Championship on Saturday was their first in seven games in all competitions, though they have yet to reach the depths of our performances against Rochdale and Wednesday.

Mick McCarthy’s comments to the Ipswich official site reads remarkably like a mirror image of McDermott’s, as he wants to build on an improved performance in the last game, is expecting a tough game, and also paid tribute to the opposing manager. But he also said “There has been a bit of unrest slightly up there. If we can capitalise on any upheaval in that sense or with their current takeover bid, then that will be brilliant.”

Ipswich also have no new injury problems and Captain Carlos Edwards has overcome a groin problem and is fit to travel. And we might be seeing our former right-back Frazer Richardson gracing the Elland Road turf for the second time this season, as he is likely to make his tractor boy debut after joining on loan from Middlesbrough.

One unofficial Ipswich site has come up with the statistic that they have the worst record in the Championship this season after scoring first, and we contributed to that with by coming from behind to 2-1 win at Portman Road in August. McCarthy is still a bit sore about that, “we bashed them for 30 minutes and then they got a goal in the first-half, before a deflection in the second won it for them” overlooking the back luck that Leeds suffered in the two visits to Ipswich before that game.

The Tractor Boys are out for revenge tonight, but I don’t think they’ll get it, as I’m tipping an improving Leeds to win a very tight game by the odd goal.

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Photo: Action Images

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