Leeds eased through to round2 of the Capital One cup with a convincing drubbing of League One newboys Shrewsbury Town, but they survived a couple of early scares before taking full control.

Warnocks new look Leeds side were greeted by a surprisingly large and buoyant crowd of 18,000 who enjoyed the rarity of a League Cup tie on a Saturday.

Tom Lees was missing from the starting line-up due to a training session groin injury, but the biggest gasp came when Warnock named bad boy striker El Hadji Diouf among his substitutes. Free from his short spell with Doncaster, Diouf linked up with Leeds on a non-contract basis last Thursday and news of his arrival was leaked via twitter by an apprentice!

The announcement of Diouf's name attracted a chorus of boos from the Kop, however a sticky start by the home side may have prompted the arrival of the Senagalese forward sooner rather than later. Paddy Kenny was the busiest debutant including a long range save and clawing back a goal mouth scramble that should have put the confident Shrews in front.

However Leeds went in front on 20 minutes when Rodolph Austin fired in a rasping shot from 25 yards which ex Leicester keeper Chris Weale fumbled and Luciano Becchio gobbled up the rebound off a Shrews defender.

Number two started in the most impudent of fashion, when Paddy Kenny cheekily dealt with a Shrews attack by lobbing the ball over an advancing attacker to the left flank, nearly as outrageous as Johnny Giles' donkey kick circa Southampton 1972! The ball was switched right and Ross McCormack wriggled the all past Weale but Luke Varney made double sure to send Leeds into a commanding 2-0 half time lead.

Varney had a hand in the third on 56 when his knock down provided new skipper and fellow ex Pompey man David Norris with a debut to remember, Norris slammed home number three albeit off his shin to cap an impressive performance.

If McCormack felt aggrieved at Varney applying the finishing touch for our second, he had his own chance in front of goal from the spot on 70 after Michael Hector handled. He celebrated by indicating the motion of signing a piece of paper and the Kop responded "Sign him up!" to which he gave a cheeky thumbs up! Let's hope we can keep him amidst rumours Everton have been keeping tabs on him of late.

Six minutes later, it was a high-five from McCormack as he was subbed in favour of the man he famously clashed with last February after our dramatic 3-2 win over Doncaster, El Hadi Diouf. It has to be said that the majority of the crowd booed Diouf!s entrance which must be a first, a player getting stick from the Leeds crowd before he even had touched the ball!

Diouf did slide in a decent pass in the direction of Sam in the closing stages, who had a mature debut at right-back and was named as man of the match rightfully by some pundits. That was about it, Leeds eventually enjoyed a confidence boosting romp against a side who age them a couple of scares and a week to tighten things up when Wolves roll into town next Saturday.

Photo: Action Images

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