Carling Cup match v Crystal Palace

By: j | August 25th, 2008

Leeds face Championship League’s Crystal Palace in the second round in the Carling Cup later today at Elland Road. Like Leeds, Palace started the campaign with tremendous hopes of promotion and just like Leeds have stumbled and bumbled their way and scrambling for answers.

Gary McAllister has a tough choice in how to approach this match because they need to be prepared for the season and Saturday’s tussle against Bristol Rovers has to be a priority. However the dangling carrot of another home match in the Carling Cup and box office receipts could coerce them to go all out. Crystal Palace’s Neil Warnock must be scratching his head with this one as well, do they go all out or do they rely more heavier on the likes of brilliant young Footballers Tom Soares, Ben Watson, Calvin Andrew and Victor Moses? Equally this is the perfect opportunity for Leeds to provide Liam Darville and Tom Elliott quality playing time. I don’t even need to comment of Fabian Delph because he doesn’t need “extra time”, he needs to be in the starting grid this Saturday. Crystal Palace faces Reading on the weekend and they cannot jeopardize losing more points so this might be a bit of a reprieve for Leeds.

On the injury front Leeds is Alan Sheehan suffered a concussion in this past weekends match, albeit someone without a even the slightest medical background is terming in a “mild one” (ahem, here’s a subtle hint amateur neurologists, there really are no “mild” concussions) and is apparently pushing to play in the match. In a side note, fast forward fifteen or so years when he opens up the scrapbookto remind him he actually played Football…Gary, sit him down for at least ten days. Crystal Palace will be without Shaun Derry and James Scowcroft who are under suspension with Neil Danns and Sean Scannell out with injuries.

I will report on the match once it concludes.