Cardiff vs Leeds United preview

Posted Tuesday, January 04, 2011 by skysports.com

Team news for Tuesday night's Championship clash between Cardiff and Leeds United at Cardiff City Stadium.

Cardiff will be without new signing Jon Parkin.

The striker, who penned a two-and-a-half-year deal from Preston on New Year's Day, arrived with a slight knee strain but it is nothing serious and he could well be involved in Saturday's FA Cup trip to former club Stoke.

Elsewhere, manager Dave Jones will leave it as late as possible before assessing his options with his promotion-chasing squad heavily impacted by injury and illness.

Striker Jay Bothroyd has missed three more games than expected as he battles to recover from a hamstring problem while Craig Bellamy, who started Saturday's 3-0 defeat at Bristol City, is careful not to play games in quick succession for fear of aggravating his troublesome knee injury.

The likes of midfielder Danny Drinkwater, goalkeeper David Marshall and striker Andy Keogh will also be monitored as they look to overcome knocks and niggles.

One player who will definitely be missing at the Cardiff City Stadium is defender Chris Riggott after he damaged his hamstring at Ashton Gate and was forced off after just 16 minutes. The club are yet to discover how long he will be sidelined for as they wait to carry out a scan on what is a secondary injury having only recently returned from a lengthy lay-off.

Leeds will be without midfielder Neil Kilkenny for the clash.

The midfielder has joined up with the Australia squad ahead of the Asian Cup and could be absent for a month.

Ross McCormack replaced Kilkenny, who started on the substitutes' bench, in the New Year's Day draw with Middlesbrough and is expected to continue.

George McCartney has returned to Sunderland following the end of his loan spell so Andrew Hughes is expected to continue at left-back, although Ben Parker and Fede Bessone provide manager Simon Grayson with alternative options.

Andy O'Brien, who has signed a permanent deal with Leeds after his loan spell from Bolton, is likely to continue at the heart of defence alongside Neill Collins, but Grayson could be tempted to rest some of his players who appeared to be off the pace against Middlesbrough.

Lloyd Sam, Sanchez Watt, Billy Paynter, Alex Bruce and Davide Somma are all vying for starting places as Leeds bid for a first win in four matches after three successive draws.