Leeds may finally be on the verge of a multi-million pound takeover, but that hasn’t stopped Neil Warnock from claiming that we’re the underdogs for tomorrow’s game at Ashton Gate.
City are only above Leeds on goal difference and have won only one game in the last four, with their most recent home game being a 5-3 defeat by Blackburn, but our manager was still talking them up when he spoke to the official site. "They've spent quite a bit of money and have signed some good players. It's not bad when you're able to leave someone like Jon Stead out of your side. "They're a good team and they're scoring plenty of goals at home. It'll be a real test for us defensively. It's a hard game for anyone."
But the manager declared he was reasonably happy with the season so far and said he just wants us to be in a position to be able to mount a challenge, presumably with an eye on the prospect of extra funds for team strengthening once the takeover has gone through. "If we get to the international break three points off the Play-Offs then I'll settle for that. When you think of the games we've had and the injuries on top of that, it would probably be better than a lot of people expected.”
Earlier in the day the Yorkshire Post was reporting that Warnock was hoping to sign a striker on loan, as he’d made a bid for a particular player and was waiting to hear from his parent club. But if it hasn’t happened by now then I presume it’s too late for the player to be eligible tomorrow, though it may be a good sign that we were even able to make a bid. Two weeks ago Leeds didn’t have the cash for even a loan move, so this may be a sign that the takeover talks are at such an advanced stage that the investors have released a bit of extra cash.
If we can’t bring in another striker tomorrow then Becchio will have to struggle on despite his groin problem. But the rest of the team news is encouraging, as Paddy Kenny and Lee Peltier have recovered from the knocks which kept them out of the Everton game on Tuesday, although it could be a while before we see any more of McCormack, Norris or Green, all of whom are injured more severely.
Meanwhile, City manager Dereck McInnes was told his club’s official site that his players were well up for the game. “Leeds will come here in buoyant mood but it's important we take full advantage of being at home. We want to have a good home record this season. We have performed well in the three league games at Ashton Gate and want to continue that. All the players are looking forward to it. It has all the ingredients of a great game, they will bring a good away following and be in a good frame of mind.”
City have a few injury problems of their own, as midfielder Cole Skuse has yet to recover from an injury he picked up two weeks ago, and defender Greg Cunningham has been ruled out for two months with a serious ankle problem. So George Elokobi has been signed on loan from Wolves and is likely to go straight into the back four tomorrow. The picture I’ve seen of Elokobi on the internet show a powerfully built man with a large head and virtually no neck, so he might be quite good in the air.
Although Neil Warnock has warned that we face a tough game tomorrow I think Leeds are good enough to get at least a draw, and I reckon we’ll be coming home with a point.