Doncaster v. Leeds Preview
Friday, 15th Feb 2008 14:13

Leeds will be missing Beckford and Hughes for tomorrow’s big Yorkshire derby at Doncaster Rovers.

The game is a complete sell-out for both sets of fans, and the police have asked us all to get there nice and early. Leeds urgently need a win to make up some ground on Doncaster Rovers and maintain any realistic chance of an automatic promotion place. O'Driscoll's side have stormed up to second place and currently sit on top of our form table (which you can see in the ‘season 2007/8’ section of the site). They have won nine of their last 11 matches and have lost only two of the last 23. They did of course win at Elland Road last month, but in the short time since Leeds have signed another six new players, so they could be facing a completely different side tomorrow.

Gary McAllister told the Yorkshire Post "Doncaster try to be inventive, and we'll respect them.They're above us in the league. But as I said before Forest, if we're going to reverse that then we need to reverse that Elland Road result. It's a result that hurt the players because they didn't perform on the day. I can see an eagerness in their eyes. They want to put it right." And he also put a brave face on the fact that we have yet to win under his management. "The club needs a win. For me as a new arrival as well, I'd like that first win. But I don't want it to be a desperate thing – I don't want the players to try to get it through desperation. Two draws on the bounce is two games undefeated, and team spirit is something you gain when you get results."

Leeds will be forced to make two changes from the team who started against Forest, as Beckford is suspended after reaching five bookings, and Hughes is facing a three week lay-off with a knee injury. Gary Mc.Allister explained Hughes’ situation to the official site "it happened in the last minute of the game against Nottingham Forest on Tuesday night and he is going to be missing. He has been to see a surgeon and we are going to decide which way to go about sorting it out. The knee might need a little bit of a scrape or a clean and that is something for the medical people to sort out."

But the managaer thinks we have enough cover up front to compensate for Beckford’s absence. "We've got Tore Andre Flo fit, there is Anthony Elding and young Tom Elliott came on for the reserves on Tuesday and scored with his first touch. So, as much as Jermaine will be missed, we have able guys who can come in." In any case, Beckford has run out of form in recent weeks, not least because he is so heavily marked these days, so the break might do him a bit of good. I would guess that Elding is likely to start alongside Kandol, with Flo making his usual cameo appearance later in the game.

Doncaster midfielder Richie Wellens is doubtful as he has a cyst on his ankle, while defender Adam Lockwood is hoping for a recall after recovering from a groin strain and new strikers Stuart Elliott and Gareth Taylor might get on at some stage.

And if the game needed any extra spice, Rovers chairman John Ryan has had plenty to say on the court case Ken Bates has launched to try to get the 15 points back. He told the Yorkshire Post: "If Leeds get the points back after we have ended the season 14 points ahead of them and they get promotion instead, there will be problems. There is no way that we would stand for that. I, personally, don't think they will get the points back but, having said that, maybe we should go all out to make sure we finish 16 points or more in front of Leeds just in case. In an ideal world, I would love both of us to go up with us automatically and Leeds through the play-offs. But we would have to stand up for Doncaster Rovers." He refused to say if he would mount his own legal challenge, in the event of our appeal being successful.

Has Ryan noticed that Leeds have actually earned five points more than his club on the field this season? It might help hiscase if he focused on the merits of whether the 15 points should or should be deducted, rather than just moaning that restoring the points to Leeds would be inconvenient for Doncaster. All the same, his comments should make for some interesting discussions in the boardroom tomorrow.

It’s a difficult game to predict, but I’ll stick my neck out and predict a narrow defeat for Leeds.