Yorkshire Evening Post 11/8/10
Leeds United v Lincoln City: Job done - Grayson
Leeds United cruised into the Carling Cup's second round with a rousing win over Lincoln City, fuelling Simon Grayson's hopes of claiming the scalp of Nottingham Forest this weekend.
United averted any chance of a first-round upset at their expense by inflicting a 4-0 defeat on Lincoln at Elland Road last night, and their manager welcomed a strong surge in confidence ahead of Sunday's Championship clash at the City Ground.
Grayson sought a convincing victory against Chris Sutton's side after Leeds' first league match of the season ended in a 2-1 defeat to Derby County on Saturday, and his players reported in for a routine warm-down this morning as thoughts turned to a major fixture in Nottingham.
Forest featured in the Championship's play-off semi-finals last season and are expected to compete for promotion again, but Grayson said he would take his players south in positive mood after the clash with Lincoln brought their first win of the new term. Grayson said: "I wanted us to respond to the result against Derby, even though I thought we played well enough to get something out of the game.
"Four goals and a clean sheet is very satisfying and I wanted the Carling Cup to be a springboard for our league campaign. We did well in the competition last season and I think it helped us.
"Our confidence should be high now and although it's a different kettle of fish at the City Ground, we think we can beat anybody on our day and we'll go there believing we can do it."
Three goals in the first half-hour of last night's tie, scored by Jonathan Howson, Luciano Becchio and Lloyd Sam, effectively sealed United's progression to the second round, and Neil Kilkenny rounded off the result with a penalty on 70 minutes.
Grayson said: "We had to show a good attitude. A few big teams have gone out of the competition and I didn't want us to be one of them.
"At 3-0 up, I wanted us to use the game as an exercise to be solid and to play as if we were at Forest on Sunday. We'll get punished there if we're not solid and organised and the second half was a bit of a training exercise for us."
Leeds United v Lincoln City: Job done - Grayson
Leeds United cruised into the Carling Cup's second round with a rousing win over Lincoln City, fuelling Simon Grayson's hopes of claiming the scalp of Nottingham Forest this weekend.
United averted any chance of a first-round upset at their expense by inflicting a 4-0 defeat on Lincoln at Elland Road last night, and their manager welcomed a strong surge in confidence ahead of Sunday's Championship clash at the City Ground.
Grayson sought a convincing victory against Chris Sutton's side after Leeds' first league match of the season ended in a 2-1 defeat to Derby County on Saturday, and his players reported in for a routine warm-down this morning as thoughts turned to a major fixture in Nottingham.
Forest featured in the Championship's play-off semi-finals last season and are expected to compete for promotion again, but Grayson said he would take his players south in positive mood after the clash with Lincoln brought their first win of the new term. Grayson said: "I wanted us to respond to the result against Derby, even though I thought we played well enough to get something out of the game.
"Four goals and a clean sheet is very satisfying and I wanted the Carling Cup to be a springboard for our league campaign. We did well in the competition last season and I think it helped us.
"Our confidence should be high now and although it's a different kettle of fish at the City Ground, we think we can beat anybody on our day and we'll go there believing we can do it."
Three goals in the first half-hour of last night's tie, scored by Jonathan Howson, Luciano Becchio and Lloyd Sam, effectively sealed United's progression to the second round, and Neil Kilkenny rounded off the result with a penalty on 70 minutes.
Grayson said: "We had to show a good attitude. A few big teams have gone out of the competition and I didn't want us to be one of them.
"At 3-0 up, I wanted us to use the game as an exercise to be solid and to play as if we were at Forest on Sunday. We'll get punished there if we're not solid and organised and the second half was a bit of a training exercise for us."