While Simon looks for revenge on our beloved chairman Neil Warnock has to decide whether to keep the same starting eleven against Huddersfield Town.

The two hard-fought wins we’ve enjoyed in the last week have given us a much needed lift when he had seemed to be sinking towards the relegation places, and Warnock told the official site that there’s a much better spirit at the club now that the takeover has finally gone through.

"The new two lads have given everyone a lift, and you've been able to see that rub off on the others. We've had a bit of help with the new signings, and the players have responded. You can see players like Norris and Green getting back to fitness. McCormack is coming back, Peltier, Byram and Lees have done well and there's times when it all comes together."

And the boss also hinted that he’s going to name an unchanged side for tomorrow’s game. "We have a few tired legs after the games we've had, but we'll take things steady. The lads have done very well and as I said on Tuesday, you only change if you feel the need to change or have a reason to change. Do we?" (Personally, I would bring back Drury at left-back as he’s the best player we have in that position, and move Peltier to the right while playing Byram further forward, but that’s just me.)

This suggests that Pearce will have to make do with a place on the bench for the first match after he completed his three match ban. We have no new injury problems, as Thomas has recovered from the knock he suffered on Tuesday, but Luke Varney is still suspended.

Huddersfield is one of the many clubs Neil Warnock has managed during his long career, and he knows that this match is their cup final, if not ours. “I really enjoyed my time at Huddersfield.  Having worked there I know what the rivalry is like for Huddersfield fans. We didn't play Leeds when I was there, but Leeds were always the team people talked about and there was a real dislike there”.

And he isn’t taking tomorrow’s match lightly, as he prepares to face the man whom he succeeded at Elland Road. "Simon has done well, he brought them up and they'll be looking to do well this season. He's had money, he's spent it wisely, they have some good players, and they'll be looking to push on now.” But it seems that not all Huddersfield fans are so appreciative of Grayson’s efforts, and while I was listening to the local radio phone-in on Tuesday on the way back from Leeds I even heard a few who thought he should be sacked!

Certainly they have slipped down the table since the heady days of early autumn, and the last twelve games have seen only four wins and heavy defeats by Millwall and Middlesbrough.  They are now in eleventh place and we would climb above them with a win tomorrow. But Grayson has suffered numerous injuries and suspensions in recent weeks, and with a limited squad has had to field a few players who were barely adequate in League One.

Tomorrow they will still be missing midfielder Keith Southern, having failed with an appeal to overturn a red card he suffered against Charlton (even though the player he fouled thought that the dismissal was very harsh!) But Adam Clayton is available after completing his own ban, although it’s unlikely that Jermaine Beckford will be able to complete the old pals act, having missed the last three games with one of his regular hamstring injuries.

Clayton told the Yorkshire Post that he’s got nothing to prove to us. “At the time I was upset that Leeds were willing to transfer me. They’re a big club and I had settled in well and made my mark, but their willingness to let me go helped me decide coming to Huddersfield was the right move. I love it here and I’ve no regrets about leaving Leeds because we have a great set-up, great management and a great squad.”

Despite Clayton feeling  that he wasn’t wanted, as far as I remember Leeds didn’t sell him because Warnock doubted his ability, but because he was yet another player who wasn’t going to sign the contract offered by Bates, so we wanted to pick up a transfer fee rather than lose him for nothing a year later.

A few newspapers have reported that it’s now 49 years since Leeds have beaten Huddersfield away from home, but that’s a misleading statistic when the clubs haven’t met in most of the seasons since due to Leeds being in a higher division. All the same it’s about time that was put to rest, and with Leeds starting to run into form I think it will be. It’ll be a close encounter, but I’m tipping Leeds to win it by the odd goal.

Photo: Action Images

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