Pearson Upbeat For Leeds Trip

The Foxes have already picked up three points in Yorkshire this week, courtesy of Saturday’s 2-0 win at Sheffield Wednesday, and their recent levels of performance suggest another maximum haul at Elland Road is well within their capabilities.

Leeds’ famous old home is an arena that has struck fear into many a visiting player down the years and Saturday’s 2-1 win over Crystal Palace, who stepped onto the pitch as npower Championship leaders, showed exactly what Neil Warnock’s erratic but talented side are potentially capable of.

But City manager Nigel Pearson, whose side could go second with another win on Tuesday, is buoyant about City’s chances.

“They had a good result at the weekend, both for themselves and also for us, and we know that they’re capable of producing good performances,” he said of Tuesday night's opponents.

“Leeds is traditionally a difficult place to go and get results, but we’re upbeat about ourselves and, if our performance is right, we’ll cause them problems as well.

“It’s a game we’re looking forward to and it’s a game I’m sure both sides will be looking to win.

“Looking at how they played against Palace, they will try to get bodies into the box and get themselves into goal-scoring positions, so we have to show the same resilience we showed on Saturday, but also continue to play our football.

“On Saturday, in difficult conditions, against a style of team that can cause problems, we managed the ball well and controlled the game for long periods.

“If we get our own performance right again on Tuesday, we’ve shown for the majority of the season that we can win games.”

Successive shut-outs against Ipswich and Wednesday, making it three clean sheets in City’s last four games, have highlighted the Foxes’ defensive resilience of late. Coupled with the goal-scoring form that saw them plunder six past the Tractor Boys 10 days ago, such strength in front of their own goal has given Pearson’s men the npower Championship’s healthiest goal-difference.

And the Foxes boss insists his whole squad should take credit for their impressive record at both ends of the pitch.

He said: “We’ve got an experienced back five, but we defend well as a team. The energy levels we get from our forwards allow us to defend from the front when we haven’t got the ball.

“The players understand how we defend as a team and when you have forwards prepared to work hard it triggers the rest of the team.

“In terms of the goals we have scored, there is quite a good spread throughout the team, which is going to be important throughout the season.

“But if you keep clean sheets, you clearly have a better chance of winning games.”