Leeds have a full squad available for the trip to Southampton apart from the two long-term casualties, and Simon Grayson is sounding optimistic about the season to come.
The departure of three key players over the summer has caused a certain amount of doom and gloom amongst Leeds fans, but Simon Grayson sounded upbeat when he spoke to the official site, and thought that we could make the play-offs at least. "We have progressed season by season over the time I've been here and we'll be looking to do the same again this season. We are in the category of teams who think we can get promoted, and we're looking forward to the challenge again”.
And apparently the players are also in a good frame of mind as they approach the first game. “There's a real buzz around the place. People on the outside won't see that, but there is a buzz around the training ground and with the squad, and they're the people that matter to me. It's a great game for us to start with. They have the momentum from last season, there will be a good crowd and it's a game that catches the eye. We're both entertaining teams with match-winners in our squads."
Luciano Becchio and Davide Somma will be missing for a while yet with hamstring and knee problems respectively, but apart from this pair we will have full squad to choose from. Andy O'Brien is expected to shake off a side strain, Robert Snodgrass has recovered from his ankle injury, and even Ben Parker has managed to get fit for this one! Michael Brown is likely to make his Leeds debut in midfield, and Darren O'Dea is also available after completing his loan signing from Celtic.
O'Dea told the official site "I'm delighted to be here. I'd been looking to get away and as soon as I heard of Leeds' interest I had no doubts. I was on trial here as a 13-year-old and the place was impressive then. It's changed a bit since, but it's a great set-up here and it was an easy decision to make. "I'm hoping to achieve what everyone here is hoping to achieve - promotion. 20 teams will be aiming for that, but the players here did well last season and I hope I can bring a bit more to that."
That’s right Darren, we all hope you can add some decent defending to the perfomances we produced last season. One defender who won’t be joining Leeds is Hungarian international Boldizsar Bodor, even though left back has been a problem position for us over the last few seasons. The 29 year-old played in two friendlies during his trial period, but Grayson has decided not to offer him a contract.
Speaking of left-backs, we will be meeting an old boy in the shape of Dan Harding, who is now plying his trade for Southampton. He is featured in tomorrow’s matchday programme, saying “We believe we will be able to compete against the best teams in this league, and Leeds United will provide the yardstick as to how far we've come. Team spirit is second to none. This is a big game against one of the biggest teams in the Championship and although we know it's going to be tough, it's what we're here for, what we've been striving for, for the last two seasons."
And Saints boss Nigel Adkins is also looking forward to seeing his squad compete at a higher level. "St Mary's should be bouncing. I am sure that both sets of supporters will make some noise. We managed to get ourselves promoted last season and there is a great buzz about the city amongst all of the supporters. We have young, hungry players here who we are all excited about and they now have the opportunity to go and play in the Championship “
“We can take great heart from the performances of Norwich, Leeds and Millwall from last season and there is no reason why we can't do something similar”. However, Adkins will have a couple of injury concerns before he can finalise his teamsheet tomorrow. Teenage star Alex Chamberlain is a doubt for Southampton after suffering an ankle injury during a pre-season friendly against West Brom, and Dean Hammond missed the friendly at Yeovil through illness, but the midfielder is expected to be available.
If you haven’t managed to get a ticket for this game already, then the chances are that it’s now too late, as Southampton have now announced that they will only sell tickets to fans already on their customer database. But if you can get in, you can always watch the game live on Sky Sports. And as a far as a prediction goes, I think the most likely outcome for this game is a score draw.