Grayson plays down home advantage

Posted Wednesday, February 03, 2010 by PA

Leeds manager Simon Grayson has dismissed the notion that the Elland Road factor will give his side an advantage in Wednesday night's FA Cup fourth-round replay against Tottenham.

A sell-out crowd is assured and success-starved Leeds fans are revelling in the spotlight as another high-profile cup tie is set for a live national television audience, but Grayson does not believe Spurs' Barclays Premier League stars will be intimidated by a partisan home crowd.

Grayson said: "Most of their players will have played at Elland Road, if not for Tottenham then for other clubs and they'll have been aware of our fans at Old Trafford and at Tottenham, so I don't think they'll be in for any shock."

Leeds ambushed arch rivals Manchester United at Old Trafford in the third round before an inspired late rally at Tottenham sustained hopes of another big upset.

Both wins came courtesy of star man Beckford, with the Leeds striker taking his tally for the season to 24 with another brace against Coca-Cola League One rivals Colchester on Saturday.

But a half-smiling Grayson suggested it was now time for someone else to step forward.

He said: "We'll just go and enjoy it. We've not really spoken about it. We'll just go and enjoy it like we did at Old Trafford.

"Give the best account of yourselves that you can, have no regrets when you come off the pitch and somebody try to be a hero again because Jermaine's got a lot of the headlines in the last couple of rounds, and it would be nice for somebody else to get them for a change."