Leeds need a win to get the season back on track against Port Vale tonight, but it looks like our first choice keeper has recovered in time to play.
At one stage it looked as though we’d run out of goalkeepers, but the good news is that both Casper Ankergren and David Lucas have resumed full training after their recent injuries. Ankergren needed 17 stitches in the knee he gashed in the FA cup tie with Hereford, and Lucas sustained a minor neck problem while conceding Cheltenham’s late winner in our last game nine days ago. Ankergren will be back between the sticks tonight as long as there are no late complications with his injury.
And the midfielders are also flooding back, as Sebastien Carole is also expected to recover from a twisted ankle, while Alan Thompson and Radostin Kishishev are also ready for action after recent fitness problems, and Filipe Da Costa is available after his three-match suspension. But up front we will have little in reserve, as Mark De Vries has been struck down by illness, and Leon Constantine won’t face his former club as he’s still out with a fractured toe.
Leeds have wobbled in recent weeks, but Vale’s form hasn’t been sparking either, as they have managed just one win in five games under their new boss, ex Farsley Celtic manager Lee Sinnott. They were booed off on Sunday after being held at home by non-league Chasetown, and Sinott told his local rag ‘The Sentinel’ that he is demanding his players restore some pride in their shirts this evening. "I'm looking for no fear and a work-rate that inspires Port Vale supporters and makes the journey up to Leeds worthwhile. I'm looking for commitment, and I will take that over ability any day."
He’s obviously been unimpressed by several players, as he has appointed Luke Rodgers as captain in place of George Pilkington, while Calum Willock, Danny Whitaker, Craig Rocastle and Paul Edwards, have all been dropped from the side. In their place come James Lawrie, Luke Prosser, Keith Lowe and David McGoldrick. But even the new boys will be under pressure to perform. "People will either do it my way or they won't. There are only two courses of action, either I go or they go. I have been here for four weeks and I don't class myself as untouchable. Why should anybody else be? Regarding the changes on the team sheet, why should anybody else have the audacity to think they are a pencilled-in appointment?”
Strong stuff, and Dave Basset has warned that Leeds can’t be complacent tonight, even though Vale are at the wrong end of the table, especially as we lost to the bottom club in the last game. He told the official site “We wanted to beat Cheltenham and we should have beaten them. We dominated the game, but didn't score goals and you have to score goals. We've seen them [Vale]. Obviously their confidence isn't fantastic, but football is like that, things happen that you don't always expect. We'll go into the game looking and believing we will but there's no foregone conclusion in football. Port Vale will come here to try and nick a result, but we're confident we can win the game."
And I reckon we will win the game against a re-shuffled Vale side, maybe by a couple of goals.