Leeds manager Simon Grayson has highlighted the battle between the two sets of strikers as a key point of tomorrow’s game with play-off hopefuls Southampton.
He will be backing his duo of Jermaine Beckford and Luciano Becchio to come out on top ahead of Saints forwards Rickie Lambert and Lee Barnard - a former Leeds transfer target.
The Leeds pair have scored 39 goals this term with Saints’ strikers coming up with 33.
“I'd back my strikers in front of their two players every time. Jermaine and Luciano have both got fantastic qualities,” Grayson told the Yorkshire Evening Post.
"There's no getting away from the fact that Lambert and Barnard are good players as well and it'll be an interesting duel.
"But our two were excellent on Tuesday night (against Tranmere) and they know they have to replicate that tomorrow if we're going to win again."
Grayson added that he respects the threat posed by Pardew’s men. “If it wasn’t for their points deduction they’d probably be pushing for the top three,” he said. “They’ve probably not had the consistency but they’re a major threat as a team.
“But this is an opportunity for us to play at a decent ground on a big pitch, and we’ve got the chance to express ourselves. if they don’t make the play-offs they will probably be disappointed. But they’ll feel they can get the gap back if they go on a good run and feel confident with the players they have.”
Saints
Southampton’s Adam Lallana hopes Saints will be able to exploit Leeds’ open style: “They’re fighting for the automatic spots and I’m sure they’re going to come at us and try to get a result,” he told the Southampton Daily Echo.
“But when teams come at us like that it’s better for us. When teams put men behind the ball you’ve got to break them down. So it’s going to be a real competitive game. We owe them one obviously, because they beat us at Elland Road.”
