Leeds Utd v Ipswich: Austin’s setback highlights need for new recruits

So it has proved, with the news that Rudy Austin is out for three weeks with a muscle tear and Steve Morison touch-and-go as to whether he will be back from a groin injury, leaving head coach Neil Redfearn admitting his squad is at “full stretch”.

The lack of numbers has brought into focus a window that saw Sol Bamba and Edgar Cani arrive as Jason Pearce, Noel Hunt, Stephen Warnock, David Norris and Michael Tonge departed and Nicky Ajose extended his loan stay at Crewe Alexandra.

Redfearn met chairman Andrew Umbers yesterday in the hope progress could be made in terms of bolstering Leeds’s ranks.

However, with United owner Massimo Cellino serving a Football League suspension it remains to be seen whether a new face or two arrives before the emergency loan window closes later this month.

“I think the club understand,” said Redfearn when asked about the need for new additions. “We are at full-stretch. I definitely think that and obviously we need cover. I have spoken to Andrew Umbers and I have given him a list again. It is a list of players who will do for us. The players are out there.

“It is down to the club if we can get them and they are available but it’s down to that as well - whether players are available.

“There are a lot who are coming to the end of their contracts and there are good quality players out there, clubs wanting to offload them for different reasons.

“It is a time when you can get players and I am hoping that we can get a couple across the line.”

United were already without Tommaso Bianchi and Grandi Ngoyi before the injury that forced Austin out of the weekend defeat at home to Watford was diagnosed as a tear. It will keep the Jamaican on the sidelines for tonight’s game with Ipswich Town.

Morison is hoping to be available, but after scoring against the Hornets, Billy Sharp has a strong claim to retain his place in the starting XI.

For Leeds, the visit of the Tractor Boys offers not only a chance to end a two-game losing run, but also avenge their joint highest defeat of the season.

Redfearn’s side crashed 4-1 at Portman Road in December despite taking the lead through Mirco Antenucci and the United head coach admits his players learned a valuable lesson that afternoon.

“Ipswich are a successful Championship side and they have got the facets to compete at this level,” he said. “They have got a good balance and a blend, and that is something we have had to adjust to. It was men and boys that day.

“We started off really well, Antenucci scored early doors. But, as the game wore on, they ground us down. It was a real eye-opener to what this division is all about.”

United’s recent losses at Brighton and then against Watford on Saturday have come as something of a jolt to the system, as before that Redfearn had steered his men to five wins in six games.

He added: “Football has a habit of kicking you where it hurts when you think you have got it. We have got to be better, more competitive. Even on Saturday, to go 2-0 up against Watford is no mean feat. They are a good side. The naivety is conceding three goals.”

Like Leeds, Ipswich will go into tonight’s contest smarting from a defeat. However, as low as United felt after squandering a two-goal lead, the Tractor Boys lost the East Anglia derby and that allowed Norwich City to leapfrog their bitter rivals.

Redfearn said: “Mick (McCarthy, Ipswich manager) is experienced enough to know that for every defeat, if you pick a win up it looks different again.

“From now to the end of the season, most sides will beat one another. Different sides are fighting for different things.

“Someone is going to get beat, someone is going to drop points. These players have performed remarkably well over the past couple of months and they know that.

“I have told them that in no uncertain terms. As much as you point things out when things go wrong, you have also got to tell them when things are right.”

Even allowing for Sunday’s loss at Carrow Road, Ipswich are firmly in the promotion hunt under lifelong Leeds fan McCarthy.

The challenge for Redfearn is to build a squad capable of sustaining a push for the Premier League and to do that he appreciates he has to strengthen.

Redfearn added: “Any promotion push takes time. You have got to build. But Mick’s recruited quite heavily.

“They have collected players. They have got players on the bench that give them options. They have recruited. It is all part of that process.”

Last six games: Leeds United LWWWLL, Ipswich Town LWWLWL.

Referee: M Brown (East Yorkshire).

Last time: Leeds United 1 Ipswich Town 1; January 28, 2014; Championship.