Today’s game with AFC Bournemouth starts an eight day spell where we will be expected to pick up points and get back into the play-off positions.

Gary McAllister told the official site that he wants his side to keep up the momentum, after achieving his first win as a Leeds manager at Swindon last Saturday. "We've got to build on last weekend. They have to show the same attitude and will to win that they showed at Swindon." And he’s had no new injuries to contend with as he assembles his squad to take on AFC Bournemouth.

Andrew Hughes returns to the squad after coming through a week's training, and could play for the first time since he injured his knee in against Nottingham Forest a month ago. The only real doubt is Alan Thompson, but he is expected to recover from a knock on his thigh he sustained last week. Jonathan Douglas has returned to training this week for the first time since his injury at Walsall in December, but he is not expected to be ready for a first team return until Easter at the earliest. Sebastian Sorsa is away on international duty with Finland, but presumably would have started on the bench in any case.  

Dougie Freedman has gone straight into the squad after the saga of his on-off-back on loan from Crystal Palace, and he will now stay at the club until the end of the season. Macca told the official site "Freedman is the type I am looking for - he can handle a big crowd, he plays with guile and he can cope with this level of football." Freedman has played for Scotland and in total has scored 176 goals during his career with various clubs.

Bournemouth are currently languishing in 22^nd. place in the table, having had ten points deducted for going into administration. Their administrator is none other than our dear former chairman Gerald Krasner, who must be looking forward to the chance to meet Ken Bates again, having had so much to say about our own administration process during the summer.

But despite his club’s troubles, Cherries Manager Kevin Bond was putting a brave face on it all when he spoke to his club’s official website, saying the pressure is all on Leeds.

"It's a great game for everybody to play in and for us it's a big game in any circumstance. It's a fantastic stadium and always nice to pit your wits against a big club. They're in our league, but they are a massive club so it's a game I want everyone to look forward to. We'll go there and work as hard as we possibly can and try to make things as difficult as we can from them.
Whilst we got beat at our place I thought we put in a decent performance against them. It proves we can compete with them. I know on occasions Leeds haven't been as convincing as they'd like."

In their current situation it’s no surprise that Bournemouth have a rather threadbare squad, and they have had to sign goalkeeper David Forde on an emergency loan from Cardiff to replace Gareth Stewart, who has a broken leg. Striker Lee Bradbury and defender Warren Cummings are struggling to be fit after both player missed training on Thursday training, with a migraine and an infection respectively.

This is the first of three consecutive games against teams in the bottom six, and Leeds will be big favourites to complete the double over our south coast opponents. And I expect we will, so I’m going to predict a Leeds win, by a couple of goals.

Photo: Action Images

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