Gary Mc.Allister has asked the fans to stick with his team as they head for Tranmere Rovers, and promises that his men will come out fighting.
The manager spoke to the Yorkshire Post this week, and he called for the fans to trust him, despite the embarrassment of losing to a non-league club for the first time in the club’s history. "This is a proud city and the defeat to Histon was a big blow. I don't like to see people sniggering behind our backs or laughing at that result. We're trying to create something here – a certain style of play and winning results. The only way to come out of this is to come out fighting and to show people that come May we'll be right up there."
And he promised that he knows what he needs to do to put things right, and that the results will improve before too long. "I'm very positive and have a belief in what we are doing. If you are a neutral coming to watch Leeds you would be able to identify the problems in certain games. Defensively as a team we have been conceding too many goals and we need to bolster that. A lot of negative things have been said but I believe we are big enough and strong enough to cope with it, and we have to come out fighting."
Leeds will have a few key players missing, with Beckford still injured and Delph having to serve a one game suspension after he received his fifth yellow card of the season in the game at Northampton. And it has been confirmed that Robinson will be out for a month after being carried off with a hamstring problem at Histon, and I dread to think how tubby he’ll be once he’s sat at home over Christmas with no exercise. Macca will now have to decide whether Showumni will get a game in Beckford’s absence, or whether Becchio will play as the only striker while Snodgrass offers support from the wings.
Tranmere have a few injury problems of their own, as defender Danny Holmes and striker Chris Greenacre will miss the game with leg and back injuries respectively. But re-enforcements are at hand for the Birkenhead club, as Craig Curran has returned to training and on-loan Doncaster midfielder Mark Wilson is available again after missing last week's FA Cup tie at Peterborough. And another loanee, Middlesbrough defender John Johnson, is expected to fill replace Ryan Shotton, who has returned to Stoke after the completion of his own loan spell.
Rovers are currently ninth in the table, but sit six points behind sixth-placed Scunthorpe. It’s not their home form that has held them up this season, as they have won five out of nine at Prenton Park. Their boss Ronnie Moore was in confident mood as he spoke to his club’s website ahead of their cup final.
"We're on a nice little run and we want our supporters to come and get behind us. We want as many people as we can coming through the turnstiles here as I don't think we're too far away from good things. They're going to come here and try to put the Histon game out of their minds as quickly as possible. It was a one off game, and they'll come here, there will be a great atmosphere and they'll be ready for it. We're looking forward to the game; our lads are full of confidence. Wherever Leeds go their support is fantastic. It doesn't matter what form they're in. They've sold out their allocation, and if our lads can't look forward to it they shouldn't be in football."
Leeds can’t afford to lose any more any more ground on the leaders, as we’re six points behind Leicester already, but Tranmere will be difficult opponents on their own ground. It’s been a long time since we drew a game in the league, so it’s about time we had another one, and I’m going to predict a scoreline of one each.