Simon Grayson is doing his best to raise the spirits of his squad for the trip to Portsmouth, but there are fitness doubts concerning O’Brien and Becchio.

 On the official site Grayson said "Looking at the week, I'm proud of how we conducted ourselves as a club and we can take a lot of pride out of it. But it's history now. We've moved on and we're looking forward to Portsmouth.  The players have shown great focus and mental toughness and they've always focused on the next game rather than what's around the corner”.

 And despite Pompey’s disappointing position in the league, he was keen to make sure that we don’t underestimate them. "Portsmouth have some outstanding individuals and it's another big test for us. We're aware of them and the threat they pose, and I'm sure they will be aware of us. They know they will be in for a tough test, but that goes for us both."

 Andy O’Brien could well miss the game after limping off on Wednesday, so Richard Naylor could come into the squad. Grayson said "It's highly unlikely Andy will be fit for the weekend, but we'll see. We're still assessing him and we're waiting to see whether it's cramp or whether there's a slight tear. The odds are short and if he is out, hopefully it won't be for too long."

 Becchio is the other possible absentee, but is said to be making good progress as he tries to overcome his back injury. To give him as long as possible to recover, Grayson will leave it as long as possible before he names his squad. "We've got a few tired bodies But we'll see how everyone is and our sole focus is on getting a result at Portsmouth."

Portsmouth are currently 18th. in the table, but at the start of the season it looked a lot worse, as they were bottom of the league and seemed likely to drop straight through into League One. Results improved in September once the future of the club was secured and they came out of administration, but now they seem to be out of form once again. They have lost the last four games in league and cup, with their last league point coming in the 3-3 draw at Elland Road last month.

Their desperate financial problems mean that they have to operate with a small squad, and manager Steve Cotterill says this is responsible for their poor results. He told their official site “There’s been nothing wrong with the performances, but the injuries and suspensions have caught up with us. We’ve been really, really lucky that it took until December for them to kick in. We’ve been walking a tightrope for a long, long time, and then it all comes at once. I don’t think the habit of losing has been down to us. I don’t think it’s been for the want of trying. It’s no coincidence that we’ve dipped while we’ve had a shortness of players”.

Pompey will be missing striker Dave Kitson and defender Aaron Mokoena through suspension, but on the other hand they will have Greg Halford available once again, as he completed his own three-match ban after being sent off on New Year’s Day, and he could take Mokoena’s place. They are also hoping that strikers Nadir Ciftci (ankle), John Utaka (hamstring) and defender Ricardo Rocha (hamstring) will all have recovered from their various ailments.

It’s looks likely that there will be yet another sell-out for a Leeds away game, as Portsmouth’s official website says they only have around 500 tickets remaining. Any that remain will be still be on sale tomorrow, and although it says they will only be sold to home fans, it doesn’t say how this restriction will be enforced.

We will all be hoping that Leeds can avoid a dip in form similar to the one we suffered after our FA Cup exploits last season, but I think that this will be a tough game so soon after Wednesday night against a team who had the week off. I can’t see the FA Cup hangover lasting for more than one game, but for this one I think we will do well to come home with a draw.

Photo: Action Images

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