Grayson in staunch defence of attacking approach

The Elland Road club have earned a reputation as the second tier’s great entertainers this season with their 34 games having seen a phenomenal 117 goals scored.

Sixty-two of those have gone in the opposition net – making Leeds the top scorers in the division – but it is the 55 goals that Grayson’s men have conceded, including eight in the last three outings, that have set the alarm bells ringing as to whether they have the ability to last the pace in the promotion race.

Grayson, however, is adamant that changing United’s attack-minded approach is not an option and that instead his players must learn to cut out the silly errors and lapses in concentration that have proved so costly.

He said: “The stats say we have conceded a lot of goals but that we have scored a lot as well. We have players who are capable of opening up the opposition but we can’t keep needing to score three or four goals a game to be successful.

“There are many different reasons for that and we know we have to do better in terms of concentration and desire.

“In the first half of the season, I felt we were a little bit naive in the way we defended as a team. We were a little bit too open.

“But we changed the personnel and got players in who have played at the highest level. If you look at our back five (in the 3-0 defeat at Swansea last weekend), there was Kasper Schmeichel – a player who many teams would take.

“There was George McCartney, an international who has played a lot of his football in the Premier League. Alex Bruce has played a lot of his football at the highest level, as has Andy O’Brien. And Eric Lichaj has come in from the Premier League.

“So, collectively, our back five have all done well at previous clubs. But something just isn’t happening in terms of keeping clean sheets on a regular basis. It is a collective thing as we score goals as a team and we try to keep clean sheets as a team.

“It is not down to a lack of work being done on the training pitch by the players.

“The one thing I won’t do is take anything away from our attacking philosophy. We want to entertain the fans and win football matches.”

The 55 goals United have conceded is more than all but Preston North End (61), Scunthorpe United (58) and tomorrow’s visitors Doncaster Rovers (60) in the Championship.

As part of Grayson’s attempts to make his team more solid, the Leeds chief has been scouring the transfer market in an attempt to bolster a midfield that is hugely impressive going forward but often fails to provide adequate cover to the back four.

Blackpool’s Keith Southern was a target in January but manager Ian Holloway was unwilling to allow the 29-year-old out on loan.

Since then, he has returned to first-team action, while similar moves for Aston Villa’s Barry Bannan, Jordon Mutch of Birmingham City and Manchester City’s Michael Johnson – who Grayson watched last week for the reserves – have also been rebuffed due to the reluctance of their respective managers to allow them to leave.

The Leeds manager said: “It has been a frustrating couple of weeks since I spoke to everyone and said someone would be in before the weekend (of the Norwich game). We have been close to a couple of deals but unable to complete.

“The deadline is March 24 and I am still making calls. I am sure one or two managers will be fed up to the back teeth of me as I am ringing them every day. They probably see my number come up on their phone and press the ‘ignore’ button straight away.

“Seriously, I would like to think we can still have someone in before that deadline.”

For many Doncaster supporters, tomorrow’s match will evoke memories of the most famous meeting between the two clubs in the 2008 League One play-off final.

On that occasion, Sean O’Driscoll’s Rovers triumphed 1-0 to clinch promotion and condemn United to what would turn out to be another two years in the third tier.

Grayson insists that revenge will not be on the minds of the Leeds players tomorrow.

“When you win at Wembley, you always want to maintain that memory and it is something that can never be taken away from Doncaster.

“They beat Leeds in a play-off final but I wasn’t here and neither were a lot of my players.”

Doncaster manager O’Driscoll could yet move into the loan market before tomorrow’s derby due to both Billy Sharp (groin) and Jason Euell (knee) being doubtful for the trip to Elland Road.

Top scorer Sharp, a one-time transfer target for Leeds, needs a hernia operation and may not be able to wait until the summer while Euell, who is on a month’s loan from Blackpool, missed the club’s midweek victory over Derby County with a knee injury.

Rovers chief O’Driscoll said: “We can’t really go to Elland Road without a recognised striker in the side.

“Billy has been virtually playing on one leg and I am not sure he will be fit.”