Leeds v Tranmere Preview
Friday, 1st Feb 2008 17:57

It could be another sell-out tomorrow, for Gary McAllister’s first game in charge, against Tranmere Rovers.

McAllister is expected to include latest signings Lubomir Michalik, Alan Sheehan and Anthony Elding in his first squad for tomorrow’s game against Tranmere Rovers. Leeds have no new injury or suspension problems and the main concern is Casper Ankergren who missed the Southend game with a hip injury. Ankergren will be recalled if he proves his fitness, otherwise David Lucas will step in. Rui Marques is still unavailable as Angola have gone through to the quarter-finals of the African Cup of Nations in Ghana. Kilkenny Richardson also picked up knocks at Southend, but both are expected to recover in time to play.

McAllister took his first training session on Thursday, and told the official site he is happy with the squad he inherited and the quality of the new signings. "The club and Gwyn Williams have been tracking several players for a good length of time. I'm more than happy to trust that judgement - I know Gwyn well, he's very experienced. All the contact has been positive and we are signing players who will make a difference. There's a big job to be done here. I've got a respect for Dennis Wise and I'm sure he has brought the players in with the right mentality”. And he also promised us a decent style of play

"The good thing about League One is the teams that try and play attractive football are the ones near the top."

Meanwhile Anthony Elding was telling the official site that he comes from a family of Leeds fans and he is delighted to be joining a massive club. The 25-year-old is originally hails from Boston in Lincolnshire, but he said My family are all big Leeds fans - I'd had that drummed into me - and they said one day they hoped I would play for Leeds, and it's a real pleasure to be here. "My initial thoughts were 'wow what a club'. It's come on the back of a lot of hard work, but I always believed I could play at a higher level - I was one league below at Stockport and am ready to make the step up. Just a week ago I heard Leeds were interested and nothing else was in my mind other than coming here. The manager is a legend at the club, and it's a fantastic club that is going places. I feel so proud to be here.”

Our former player Ian Moore rejoined Tranmere this week, to play for his dad Ian at the club where he started his career. He went to Hartlepool at the start of the season after he was released by Dennis Wise, but was allowed to move to the north-west after he found it hard to travel every day from his home in Warrington. The 31 year-old scored nine times for the monkey hangers and he has signed a contract at Prenton Park that runs until summer 2009. He is certain to get another decent reception from the Leeds fans if he plays, as we remember the effort he put in an his commitment to the club during his time at Elland Road. Unlike his father, who for some reason used to get loads of abuse in the 1980s, whenever he played against us for Rotherham.

Moore has gone straight into the Tranmere squad and could start the game, as striker Gareth Taylor has gone to Doncaster. His dad’s other option would be to recall Chris Greenacre, who has been on the substitutes' bench in the last two games after recovering from a thigh injury. Wingers Steve Davies and Chris Shuker are both sidelined with knee injuries, but Shuker will be back in action sooner than originally expected after they discovered his injury was less serious than first thought.

It’s difficult to say what sort of performance to expect tomorrow, as all the new signings have to get used to each other as well as the new manager, but I’ll predict that Leeds will scrape a narrow win.