Albion are preparing to visit Elland Road for a fixture which will have a crucial bearing on the play-off ambitions of both clubs, and Wilkins has given Brighton's players a brief but badly-needed rest before their ninth game in the space of a month.

Wilkins watched his side produce a valuable 0-0 draw at Nottingham Forest on Monday afternoon, a result which lifted them into sixth, and they will carry a lead of two points over United into this weekend's fixture in West Yorkshire.

Leeds have the advantage of a game in hand after the postponement of their clash with Huddersfield Town – planned for yesterday but now due to be staged at the Galpharm Stadium on April 15 – but a defeat to Brighton at Elland Road would leave Gary McAllister's team five points adrift of the top six with seven games remaining.

Ian Westlake, who is on loan at the Withdean Stadium from Leeds, is nursing a calf injury but will be prevented from playing on Saturday regardless due to a clause in his loan deal.

And a number of Wilkins' players are coping with minor fitness problems.
Albion have already visited Huddersfield, Carlisle and Walsall during the past month, and the Brighton boss said: "We've had a gruelling month, and certain players expressed a lack of energy during last Tuesday's game at Huddersfield.

"The players are having a couple of days off, which is well deserved. They've earned the plaudits for the effort that they put into it. They are totally knackered.

"Leeds will be a massive game but I feel that we're capable of going there and causing them trouble."

Midfielders Tom Fraser and Steve Thomson are Wilkins' major injury concerns with both players suffering from calf strains.

But Albion's goalless draw at the City Ground on Monday strengthened their manager's confidence of finishing the season inside the top six.
Wilkins said: "We put in a really good performance and I thought that defensively we were heroic.

"It wasn't a win-at-all-costs game and what I wanted to make sure was that everybody came through it in a position where they were available for the following game. At the moments the signs are good."

McAllister also gave United's players a short break from training after Saturday's 2-0 victory over Walsall, though Leeds have played three games fewer than Brighton so far this month.

Andrew Hughes will serve the final game of his two-match suspension on Saturday, but he is likely to be McAllister's only absentee provided Tresor Kandol and Lubomir Michalik return unscathed from their international commitments with Congo and Slovakia respectively.

United's manager could still make further additions to his squad in the final hours of the emergency loan market, but he will be forced to make do with the pool available to him once the Football League's deadline passes at 5pm tomorrow afternoon.