Leeds have finally signed Liam Dickinson on loan, and he’s gone straight into the squad to face Swindon Town.
Dickinson joined Derby for £750,000 in the summer after scoring the winning goal for Stockport in the League Two play-off final, but hasn’t managed to establish himself at Pride Park. He scored six goals in 13 appearances on loan at Huddersfield earlier this season, and has also played for Grayson this season at Blackpool. During that spell he found the net four times in seven games.
Unless Dickinson comes straight into the starting eleven, the only likely change is at right-back, as Hughes could be fit to operate in that position and give Douglas the chance to move back to central midfield. Frazer Richardson and Andy Robinson are still absent with their thigh and hamstring complaints and Lee Trundle has thankfully returned to Bristol City after his disappointing loan spell.
If Leeds win tomorrow it will be the first time for 10 years that we have won seven successive games at home, though I remember that we did still better in our last promotion season of 1989/90, when at one point we won nine games on the trot at Elland Road. Simon Grayson thinks the improved home form has come as the players lost the fear of performing in front of their home crowd. "When I first came to the club you could sense that the players were very nervous about playing at home, but we've transformed that. We look a very different team and confident in our ability."
But despite our recent run of form at home, Grayson has warned that we can’t be complacent against a Swindon side who need the points for very different reasons. On the officiall site he said "We've got to approach the game as if we're playing the top teams in the division. You've got to be aware of the threats of the opposition - they're not just going to Elland Road and lie down and say 'we're playing Leeds, we'll let them win the game. They have got some good players - Simon Cox has got a lot of goals this year so we have to be aware that he's a threatâ€Â.
And to maintain the professional approach, Grayson is laying down the law on penalty taking. He wasn’t impressed by Tuesday night’s debacle, when Becchio grabbed the ball only to miss appallingly, and even though that miss didn’t matter in the context of that game, he wants to make sure there is no repeat. "It is an area we need to address. It depends who is on the pitch and who fancies it as well, but we will have a recognised and designated penalty-taker and he will take it." But he’s not letting on who the penalty taker will actually be.
Swindon are three points from safety in 21st place after a run of five matches without a win, and their slender resources are currently stretched even further by a few injuries. Defender Jack Smith could come back into the team but defender Pat Kanyuka, midfields player Craig Easton and John-Paul McGovern are all still injured, with striker Lee Peacock out for the season. Their boss Danny Wilson told BBC Radio Swindon "We've sat down with a couple of the boys this week and spoken about their decision making in certain periods of the game. Hopefully when these things replicate themselves, which they will, we're hoping it will help them come out with a positive decision next time. Leeds are not unbeatable, we can go there full of confidence knowing that we'll create chances."
But I remember Yeovil’s boss coming out with some similar brave words before Tuesday night’s game, and look what happened to them. I think Leeds will again be too good for the opposition, and I think we’ll get that seventh home win by a couple of goals.