Coaching staff suss out the opposition

lil eva · Coaching staff suss out the opposition

Leeds United's coaching staff were spread from Nottingham to Oldham on Saturday afternoon as the club used a vacant weekend to assess the opposition awaiting them.
The postponement of United's league match at Doncaster Rovers left a hole in their schedule and, having ordered his squad back from South Yorkshire to train at Thorp Arch, Gary McAllister dispatched his backroom team on scouting assignments across the north of England.

McAllister travelled to Nottingham to watched Forest's 1-0 victory over Swindon Town – the hosts for United's next away fixture on March 1 – and assistant manager Steve Staunton took in Port Vale's defeat to Swansea City, a meeting between the top and bottom clubs in League One.

Leeds will travel to Vale next month during a passage of fixtures which offers McAllister's players their best chance of regaining and shoring up a place in the play-off zone.

And their manager also turned his mind to the final weeks of the season on Saturday by instructing first-team coach Neil McDonald to assess Yeovil's outing at Oldham.

United do not visit Huish Park until the penultimate weekend of the campaign, but Yeovil's 3-0 loss at Boundary Park gave McDonald an early insight into a match in Somerset on April 26 which could yet be instrumental in deciding the success or failure of Leeds' season.

The noon kick-off which had been planned at Doncaster's Keepmoat Stadium gave McAllister the time and opportunity to dispatch his staff elsewhere – the sole consolation of an unwanted postponement – and the importance of maximising United's haul of points from the next four weeks is paramount.

Between Saturday's game against Crewe at Elland Road and the match at Vale next month, Leeds will play four teams who are in or around the relegation places in League One.

Two of their opponents –Vale and Bournemouth – are pinned to the foot of the division, and Crewe Alexandra and Cheltenham Town are no more than three points above the bottom four.

United have not collected a league victory since visiting Crewe's Gresty Road ground last month, but March will provide a particularly encouraging chance for them to gather momentum.

McDonald said: "It wasn't a wasted day by any means.

"The call-off was disappointing but we took the players back to Thorp Arch for a good training session, and the coaching staff went off to watch a few games in the afternoon.

"The early start we were supposed to have at Doncaster helped us in that respect, and we had plans for what we'd do if the game was called off.

"It was never going to be a case of us going home, and I was straight off to see Oldham play Yeovil.

"You take any opportunity you can to have a look at the teams you're going to be coming up against, and the games will come thick and fast next month.

"The weekend's given us a bit more information about a few of the other sides we'll be playing.

Twong

We've not got a bad run in now 'til the end of the season
let's grasp the opportunity Leeds

MOT