Simon Grayson is likely include his two loan signings, while Bradley Johnson is on hand to give him a few pointers on the Brighton and Hove Albion squad.
Having seen our defensive problems at first hand against Carlisle last week, Grayson has wasted no time this week in signing Naylor and Dickinson, and today he was singing the praises of both men on the official site.
On Naylor he said "Richard is a strong character. He has plenty of experience, he's played plenty of games at Ipswich. He's been the club captain and leader. He is a Leeds lad and a Leeds fan and that will have an influence as well. You need defenders to put their bodies on the line, and that's what I'm looking for from Richard.” Naylor has hinted that he would welcome any opportunity to convert his loan spell into a permanent transfer, and perhaps Grayson could consider making him captain at Leeds, as I think we could do with some inspiring leadership out on the field.
The loan signing of Dickinson is a bit more of a surprise when we have three left-backs in the squad already, but Sheehan didn’t have a great game in that position on Saturday, seemingly lacking a bit of pace as both Carlisle goals came from moves down his side of the field. Grayson said “I worked with him 18 months ago at Blackpool. He is a strong, aggressive left-back. He likes a tackle and likes to get forward and it's a position we needed to strengthen. "When the opportunity came to get a good, young, hungry 21-year-old from the Premiership it was too good to turn down. He was desperate to come here. He's had offers from other Championship clubs, but he wanted to come here.”
Grayson knows he needs a win tomorrow to make up some ground on the clubs in the play-off positions, but he knows it won’t be easy against a side needing points themselves. “It's an opportunity for us against a team we feel we can beat, providing we are fully focused. They are looking to get away from the bottom four in the division and Micky (Adams) will have them fired up, but we believe we can win."
Bradley Johnson is likely to be included in the squad, and Grayson has admitted that he will be asking Johnson for a bit of inside information on the Brighton players. The man himself is warning his team-mates they can’t expect an easy game. "I've said all along that Brighton are better than their league position," said Johnson. "I've seen them play Millwall and Leicester off the park and the last game I played in was a 2-0 win over Swindon . They're probably an easy team to under-estimate”.
Jermaine Beckford could be back after missing the Carlisle game with his hamstring problem, while Fabian Delph is still a Leeds player, after Ken Bates turned down a two offers this week, as he told the Yorkshire Post. “We explained to both clubs that we don't deal in petty cash - they were Premier League clubs as well. We don't want to sell Fabian. He's happy, we're happy for him to stay and unless something unexpected out of the blue happens which we can't forecast we want him to take us back into the Premier League."
Brighton’s limited squad could be stretched as their leading scorer Glenn Murray faces a late fitness test, after having an injection in a stomach problem this week. Defender Matt Richards has returned to Ipswich at the end of his loan period, and Adams will have to decide whether to risk fielding Kerry Mayo as his replacement after three months out with a knee injury. Centre-half Colin Hawkins and midfielder David Livermore are back in training after calf and knee problems respectively, but are unlikely to be risked, while goalkeeper Michel Kuipers is still out with a hand injury.
I’m going to tip Leeds to get back to winning ways after a tight game, with a victory by the odd goal.