It's likely to be a difficult game for Leeds, but apart from the suspended Sheehan we could well be at full strength.

Goalkeeper Casper Ankergren could be back in goal, as he returned to full training during the week after his ankle injury. Lubo returns after his one-match ban for his sending off against Crewe, but we will of course be missing Sheehan, who starts a three game suspension for his straight red card at Swindon.

Luckily we have a couple of promising young left back who could step in, and we also have the option of using the Hughes or Johnson in that role. Steve Staunton told the official site "There's young Aidy White who has done well, and Andy Hughes did the job last Saturday and he can play there. There's Ben Parker as well, who has looked sharp in training, so it's a nice dilemma to have." Hopefully if Parker gets the nod, Staunton will have told him to stick to the flank and not keep wandering inside like he did last season.

With those wins in the last two games Leeds seem to have recovered from an indifferent start, but Carlisle are likely to be the best side we have faced so far this season. All the same, Staunton wasn’t fazed when he spoke to the Yorkshire Post, quipping that "Pressure is for tyres." He insisted that although the Cumbrians have only lost twice at home in the last 12 months, we won’t be over-awed by their excellent home record. 

"We know from last year that they've got a good manager and good players. They're a good footballing side and they'll be in the top six. But it's 11 versus 11, as we always say, and hopefully our 11 will be better than theirs. They have to try and beat us up there. We'll be looking to win the game, of course, but we don't have to try to win it from the off. They'll have to come at us. Carlisle is a place where, even if the weather is fine, it's not that good a ground to go to. But there isn't an easy ground in this league because everyone raises their game against us. It's like any ground we go to – we're looking to win the game.  

As we all know, Carlisle finished fourth last season, before we beat them in the play-off semi-final. We might have won more convincingly if their goalkeeper Westwood hadn’t performed such heroics in the first leg at Elland Road, so their chances of challenging for promotion appeared to have been weakened when Westwood went to Coventry during the summer. But despite the loss of their talismanic keeper, they are currently second in the table, having won all three of their home games so far.

One new arrival at Brunton Park this summer was Michael Bridges, who returned to Cumbria for his second spell with the club. We weren’t surprised earlier in the week when we heard that the injury-hit striker was likely to miss the game with a hamstring problem, but the latest is that he’s worked hard over the last couple of days, and could now play some part in the game.

Manager John Ward told the club’s official site "We played him in a practice match during the week, just to make sure that there were no further problems, and he came through that with absolutely no reaction to the injury at all. He does have the connections with Leeds that we all know about, and it is a game that he will have been looking forward to anyway. "

And the man himself said "I had a great time at Leeds, and I was fortunate that I settled quickly having gone there with what was a huge price tag hanging over me. The game this weekend is one that everyone is looking forward to, and every player in that dressing room will want to be involved. Hopefully we will take our good form in to it, and give the fans another great game to watch."

New loan signing Jennison Myrie-Williams is included in the Carlisle squad following his arrival from Bristol City this week.

It’s likely to be a close game, and a draw would be a good result for Leeds, bearing in mind Carlisle’s excellent home form so far. And I think we’ll get it, as I’m predicting that the game will finish 1-1.

Photo: Action Images

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