Leeds United v Palace

Elland Road, Saturday 3.00pm

Story so far

Leeds' current position was not predicted at the beginning of the season. They got themselves into the play-off final last term but lost to Watford.

This season, most Leeds supporters would have hoped that boss Kevin Blackwell and Ken Bates would be able to improve on the situation last year and push on towards the automatic spots or finish in the play-offs.

However, Leeds have struggled to score goals and to win, resulting in them sitting at the bottom of the table. Bates' aim for the season was to get the club into a debt-free state, but waning support and income may even make this an impossibility.

Relegation to the third tier of English football for the first time in their history certainly looks possible, but surely Leeds have the name and history to avoid the drop? Just ask Forest supporters.

Team news

Peter Taylor is sweating on the fitness on several players.

Midfield trio Jobi McAnuff (hamstring), Stuart Green (shoulder) and Michael Hughes (illness) are major doubts.

There are concerns over the fitness of defender Danny Granville, midfielder Ben Watson and winger Paul Ifill.

Tom Soares starts his three-match ban after his red card in the 2-0 win over Ipswich last weekend.

Leeds keeper Graham Stack is expected to return inbetween the sticks after recovering from ankle ligament damage.

Winger Eddie Lewis may be available again after recovering from a leg injury. Jonathan Douglas (hamstring) is definitely out.

David Healy (broken arm), Tore Andre Flo (fractured foot), midfielder Shaun Derry (Achilles) and defender Gary Kelly (ankle) are still sidelined.

Quotes

"I think everyone in our division feels that Leeds will not go down," said Taylor.

"They have good experience, good players and have had a very difficult time. I know they have a few injuries like us, but it will be a very tough place to go and we would like to go there and get a win."

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Leeds United - league stats

Position	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points
24th	30	8	3	19	27

Full league table

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Leeds United - current form

Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Against
5	2	0	3	8	11

Full form table

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Our away record v Leeds United

Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Against
27	6	4	17	51	20

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Last five results

Date	Type	Home Team	Score	Away Team
13/08/2006	League	Crystal Palace	1 - 0	Leeds United
21/03/2006	League	Leeds United	0 - 1	Crystal Palace
04/03/2006	League	Crystal Palace	1 - 2	Leeds United
16/02/2003	FA Cup	Crystal Palace	1 - 2	Leeds United
31/01/1998	League	Crystal Palace	0 - 2	Leeds United

All time results

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One to watch

Robbie Blake

With David Healy out, Robbie Blake should lead the line for Leeds.

He has a respectable goalscoring tally although he hasn't had the best of times at Leeds.

Blake managed to notch up an unimpressive 11 goals in about 40 games in his first season at Leeds.

He then fell out with Blackwell and it looked as though he would struggle to feature for Leeds again. However, under Wise, Blake has managed to hit the back of the net 5 times.

It looked as though Blake would initially struggle to feature under Wise when Dirty Den branded him as overweight, however it looks as though he may flourish during the run-in.

Blake has quick feet and good ball control which helps him to create chances for himself and others. When chances look rare, Leeds could look to Blake to unlock any Championship defence.

Probable line-up

Kuqi
McAnuff	Kennedy	Fletcher	Scowcroft	Freedman
Lawrence	Cort	Hudson	Butterfield
Kiraly

Ref watch

C W Oliver

Last meeting

Palace 1-0 Leeds United

Sunday August 13 2006

Palace: Kiraly, Granville, Hudson, Cort, Butterfield, Soares (Morrison 73), Watson (Freedman 45), Kennedy, McAnuff, Fletcher, Scowcroft.

Subs Not Used: Flinders, Lawrence, Borrowdale

Yellow: Watson, McAnuff

Goals: Morrison 90

Leeds United: Warner, Kelly, Crainey, Kilgallon, Butler, Westlake, Derry, Stone (Carole 90), Lewis (Richardson 74), Horsfield, Healy (Moore 76).

Subs Not Used: Gregan, Blake

Sent Off: Horsfield (15)

Booked: Kilgallon, Kelly

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