Daniel Farke says Leeds United are out to win League Cup

The historic rivals meet in the League Cup third round five months after their FA Cup semi-final.

Chelsea won that, but Leeds reaching that stage for the first time since 1987 was an indication of what is possible at Elland Road.

"We'll try to win it," insisted manager Farke, who has tried to play down expectations in the league. "It's the quickest way to Europe and to some glory.

"Of course the Premier League will always have the priority and (we have) to make sure that we are as successful as possible there, especially to reach our first goal to establish ourselves at this level.

"This is a challenging, difficult game but we travel to London to go through into the next round without doing anything stupid.

"You also have to rotate a bit more and integrate a few new players. But we also want to go through."

Goalkeeper Michael Zetterer and deadline-day signings Melvin Bard and Jean-Matteo Bahoya did not feature in Saturday's 1-1 draw at Brighton and Hove Albion, but could at Stamford Bridge.

"I trust my whole squad and there's always a chance for changes," said Farke. "We had changes on the first gamedays and we want to be difficult to predict and also flexible.

"At this stage of the competition, we would perhaps rotate a bit more than for a normal league game. "

Farke successfully used his second-choice goalkeeper in last season's FA Cup run, but played his cards close to his chest on Chelsea.

"There's always a possibility, but it always depends on the situation," he said. "In the first round, I got a bit the feeling that James (Trafford) needs to come a bit more into his rhythm.

"At the moment, there's also lots of workload on him, not just physically but also mentally."

He expects Chelsea to be strong under new coach Xabi Alonso

"What is quite common for players who come new to English football take the cup competitions very seriously," warned Farke. "Perhaps managers who work for such a long time in English football change a bit more for the cup competitions."

Daniel James reported back and hamstring issues during the warm-up at Brighton and although scan results were positive, it is a reminder that the Hull-born player has been fighting his body for some time.

"It was important for DJ that he had a proper pre-season and he found his confidence back in his body," said Farke. "Little setbacks are not good for the head due to his CV.

"But the scan results were really good. It had just perhaps to do with the long travel to Brighton.

"Sometimes for high-profile athletes it's a bit complicated in terms of their backs and small details can sometimes have a big influence.

"It's important we try everything in terms of travelling to do it as professionally and as easily as possible.

"That's why I always insist although it's sometimes not the best choice in terms of sustainability for the environment to go for a flight."

The third round of the League Cup is spread over two midweeks, with the fourth-round draw on September 16.