As we prepare to face Tranmere Rovers, the boss doesn’t want to get carried away with the results so far.
Simon Grayson told the official site "We're fully aware that we have had a good start from our point of view, but we have to remain level headed and know what could be around the corner if we take our foot of the gas. We're three league games and a cup game into the season. Every manager looks for a positive start and a victory as early as possible"
To be honest, I don’t think we’ve got a great deal to be complacent about. In all four games so far we’ve had spells when we’ve been struggling to break the opposition down, and Tuesday night’s win over Walsall showed more clearly than ever how dependent we are on Jermaine Beckford for the one flash of brilliance we need to win the game.
Jason Crowe is the one big doubt for tomorrow, as he is struggling with an ankle problem, and only played against Walsall after passing a late fitness test. If he doesn’t make it then with no other recognized right-back we might have to play Hughes in that position, with Johnson filling in at left-back. I think that formation would give us a better balance, and would allow us to start with Robinson or Kilkenny. Parker and Naylor are on the road to recovery from their own injuries, but neither is likely to be risked tomorrow.
Simon Grayson is also surprised that Tranmere got rid of manager Ronnie Moore at the end of last season. “They missed out on the Play-Offs by 90 seconds and that's how bizarre it is. Tranmere made that decision, but John Barnes has been looking to get back into football and he has brought Jason McAteer with him and they know they have had to change the squad around. They have lost three or four players from last year - Bas Savage is injured as well - and they have a lot of young players there so they know it won't be easy”.
Barnes certainly seems to be a bit of a strange choice as his first go at management was an unsuccessful spell in charge of Celtic, and so far this season Tranmere have won one game and lost the other two. Striker Ian Thomas-Moore and defender Ian Goodison are expected to be fit in time for the game, and good old Michael Ricketts could be included in the squad for the first time since joining the Club. So for the second Saturday running we could be in for a good laugh at the expense of a former player.
This season I can’t see Tranmere finishing as high in the table as the seventh place they managed last time round, and Leeds should be far too strong for them tomorrow. So I’m going for a home win by a couple of goals.