Town Visit Leeds Looking for Repeat Performance Friday, 23rd Sep 2016 06:00 Town take on Leeds United on Saturday looking for a repeat of last year’s visit to Elland Road when the Blues recorded their second away win of 2015/16, Tommy Smith netting the only goal of the game. Mick McCarthy’s side again travel to West Yorkshire having won once on the road, the hard-fought backs-to-the-wall 1-0 victory at Derby earlier this month. Elland Road has a reputation for having one of the Championship’s more intimidating atmospheres, but the Town boss says it’s unlikely to faze his players. “It’s like everywhere, if you keep the home crowd quiet [that can work in your favour],” he said. “Some places are more intimidating than others, of course. “I don’t really see our lads getting intimidated by that, though. There’s a lot of experience in our team. “We’ve gone there in the past and not been intimidated, that’s for sure. And if you can quieten and subdue their crowd then it can actually work against the home side.” The Blues’ backline weathered a storm for long spells during the win at Derby and also in the previous away game at Reading, which ended in a controversial 2-1 defeat, but McCarthy says the plan isn’t to take that approach from the off, even if that’s how some games ultimately pan out. “We don’t go there with that intention, we did at Derby but I think we should not underestimate what they have in terms of their fire power and they’re a good team,” he said. “But I admire the fact that we can get a clean sheet out of a game like that. We could have won last week’s game [against Aston Villa] and I didn’t see too many of us diving in and blocking things on the line last week. “But Villa did in the end and it’s to be admired, I think, because they’ve capitulated in a couple of games and ended up drawing late on. “I think you need those attributes when you’re playing away from home and if you haven’t got them then you can get a slapping very quickly. I’ve been delighted with the way we’ve defended.” Leeds currently sit in 15th in the table two points and four places behind the Blues, having won one, lost two and drawn one of their Championship home games so far this season. However, after a disappointing start to the campaign - they claimed just a point from their first three league games - the Whites have improved in recent weeks and have won their last three matches, home wins against Blackburn Rovers in both the Championship and EFL Cup, 2-1 and 1-0, sandwiching a 2-0 away win at Cardiff City. “Three wins on the bounce, two in the league and one in the EFL Cup,” McCarthy reflected. “The league game at Cardiff, that was a great result for them. There was talk of [manager] Garry [Monk] being under pressure and [Cardiff boss] Paul Trollope being under pressure and it was a big game for them, so to go away and win at Cardiff, when I think they’ve got good players, was a helluva result. “Then they backed it up in midweek with a cup win, so we’re going to play a team who will be full of confidence.” McCarthy, who grew up supporting Leeds, says recent results suggest Monk is moving the Whites in the right direction: “I think Garry did a good job at Swansea and he appears to be getting it right now. “Whatever’s right for whatever club, I’m not sure, whatever people think is right for the club.
“Three wins on the bounce suggests he’s doing something right, the players seem to be happy with him, he’s got a certain way of playing and if he can give them stability then good luck to him because I think he’s a good guy. Good luck to him.” Monk has so far avoided joining the long list of bosses fired by Massimo Cellino but McCarthy says the relationship between the manager and owner at Leeds isn’t his concern. “That’s got nothing to do with me, I’ve got a great relationship with our owner and that’s all that I care about really,” he said. The Leeds side is likely to include former Town loanee Chris Wood, who has scored six goals in all competitions already this season. McCarthy says the 24-year-old New Zealand international, who failed to find the net in his spell with the Blues in 2014/15, has benefited from settling at a club. “He has [scored goals] in the past. I guess you need to find a home sometimes. You can be out on loan and drifting around and probably not training as much as you should have been doing, not living in the conditions you should be living in. “So you find a club, you suddenly get a house, you’re a bit more settled, there’s a bit more consistency, Garry Monk’s in there, if he’s picking him all that helps you to be a consistent performer. If he’s bang at it, Woody, then he’s a good player.” McCarthy seems likely to stick with all or at least most of the side which drew 0-0 at home to Aston Villa last week. Bartosz Bialkowski will continue in goal with skipper Luke Chambers at right-back, Jonas Knudsen on the left and Adam Webster and Christophe Berra at the centre of the backline. In central midfield, Cole Skuse will be joined by Jonathan Douglas with Grant Ward on the right, Freddie Sears - whose goal drought has stretched to 34 matches - on the left and Tom Lawrence in behind lone striker Brett Pitman with Leeds having utilised a similar system under Monk. Striker Luke Varney, who scored the winning goal at Derby, is a doubt with a hamstring problem suffered in the 4-0 U23s victory over the Whites on Monday, while Teddy Bishop also might not be involved having broken his nose in the Villa match. Town will be without last season’s winning Elland Road goalscorer Smith, who recently underwent a successful back operation, Luke Hyam, who won’t need surgery on his knee injury, and David McGoldrick and Jonny Williams, who are both sidelined with ankle problems. Leeds boss Monk has a virtually fully fit squad, although Swiss international full-back Gaetano Berardi won’t be risked as he continues his comeback from a hamstring injury.
“We’ve got lots of bruises but nothing that is going to really hold us back,” the Leeds boss told the Yorkshire Post. “The problem is when you have the cup game you have a lot of games in between and you very much focus on recovery. “But everyone is out on the training field [on Friday] and then we will make a choice for the team to play against Ipswich. “Everyone is training, it’s just bumps and bruises, nothing serious so everyone will be out on the training field. “Then it will be for me to select the team and the squad to go into this game this weekend.” Historically, Leeds have the superior record in the fixture, winning 30 (29 in the league) clashes between the teams. Town have been victorious on 27 (22) occasions and 20 (17) games have ended in draws. The teams last met at Portman Road in January when Pitman headed a dramatic injury time winner as the Blues came from behind to win 2-1. Souleymane Doukara put the visitors ahead in only the 12th second but Town gradually took control and dominated a second half in which Chambers headed a 50th minute equaliser and then Pitman sealed the win, both goals coming from Ryan Fraser crosses. In September last year at Elland Road, Smith netted in the 32nd minute to give Town their 1-0 win, which was their first victory on Leeds turf in 10 years. Keeper Marco Silvestri missed Fraser’s flag-kick, Leeds defender Liam Cooper inadvertently diverted the ball back across his own area from the far post and Smith nodded home what was his second goal of the season. Town midfielder Jonathan Douglas was with the Whites between 2005 and 2009, initially on loan from Blackburn, and made 151 starts and 15 sub appearances, scoring 11 goals. Luke Varney was at Elland Road between 2012 and 2014, scoring eight goals in 42 starts and eight substitute appearances. Blues assistant manager Terry Connor - who will be back in the dugout this weekend having missed the Villa game following the death of his mother - was with his hometown club between 1979 and 1983, scoring 22 goals in 108 games. Town fitness coach Andy Liddell is also from Leeds and is another boyhood supporter of the club, his father Gary having played for the Elland Road outfit. Leeds striker Chris Wood spent two months on loan with the Blues during 2014/15, failing to find the net in three starts and five sub appearances. He joined the Whites - against whom he made his Town debut at Elland Road in March 2015 - from Leicester in the following summer. Tickets will be on sale to Blues supporters at Elland Road on the day but with a £5 increase in price. Saturday’s referee is Stephen Martin from Staffordshire, who has shown 25 yellow cards and no reds in nine games so far this season. Martin was in charge of the 2-0 defeat at Brentford last month in which he booked only Adam Webster. Prior to that, Martin’s last Town game was the 1-0 home defeat to Rotherham in March, in which he booked Jonas Knudsen and one Miller. He also took control of the 2-1 home victory over Fulham on the opening day of 2014/15 in which he yellow-carded Tyrone Mings, Berra and Hyam. Before that he refereed the 2-0 home victory over Brighton in September 2013, when he booked only one visiting player, and the 2-1 loss at Bristol City in the January of that year, in which he showed a single yellow card to one of the home side. Squad from: Bialkowski, Gerken, Chambers (c), Emmanuel, Knudsen, Kenlock, Berra, Webster, Digby, Skuse, Douglas, Bru, Bishop, Grant, Dozzell, Ward, Lawrence, Sears, Pitman, Best, Varney.
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