Leeds have a full squad to choose from at Yeovil and the boss is looking for a big improvement on last week’s debacle against Oldham.
Gary Mc.Allister told the official site "We need to be a lot better but that was only the second game of the season and there is no knee jerk reaction or pressing of the panic button. That defeat still hurts, though. Whenever you lose a match it affects you but we looked at the video of the game and picked out a few things. Taking care of the ball, being stronger in possession and braver in decision making are the things we have been working on this week. And the way we lost the two goals? That was down to lapses of concentration. We were a wee bit soft mentally with the balls coming into the box and we were severely punished. I want us to be much better."
Bradley Johnson is looking to get back into the starting line-up, after a back injury forced him to miss most of the pre-season build-up. He has made just the one substitute appearance so far for the first team, but managed the full 90 minutes for the reserves on Wednesday night against Huddersfield. Johnson scored one of our goals and also hammered a 25-yard half volley against the cross bar late in the game and he told the official site “That was the first full game I have had for a while because of the injury but I am fit now and hopefully I can be in contention for a place on Saturday. We have a big first team squad but last night it was all about trying to impress the manager and trying to put myself in contention for the weekend”.
Yeovil have made a decent start to the season, with a win at Charlton in the Carling Cup and a victory over Hereford and a draw with Walsall in the League. Macca commented "They have started the season brilliantly. They'll be no pushovers. We know it is going to be a tough game but we're out to bounce back." Yeovil could give Gary Roberts his debut as he joins the Glovers on loan from Crewe, as two of their other midfield players are likely to be ruled out due to hamstring injuries . Darren Way is unlikely to play, while Marc Bircham is making good progress but will not be available until Tuesday's Carling Cup tie at Middlesbrough at the earliest.
And Yeovil right back Lee Peltier was keen to tell the Western Daily Press that we really aren’t famous any more. "Everyone will want to play them because they are a big team but to be fair they are in League One.I don't see what the big fuss is about because they are called Leeds. I just take it as any other game really. They will come here wanting to win because they lost their last game, but we will be ready and we'll see what we can do."
It looks as though Yeovil will be a tougher prospect than in the game at Huish Park in April, so maybe a draw will be a good result for Leeds. And I think we’ll get one.