United's players produced the performance of their lives to run Liverpool close – and, at times, ragged – in the third round of the Carling Cup on Tuesday night, but the exploits of a lower-league club who nearly bridged the gap to the Premier League will be forgotten this weekend when League One resumes.

Simon Grayson's players ended a 1-0 defeat to Liverpool with great credit and no little adulation, threatening an upset which, in spite of their consistent form, had seemed improbable beforehand, but he was bringing his squad down to earth today as they prepared for what is likely to be their most difficult league fixture of the season to date.

United were unbeaten in 10 matches before David Ngog's well-taken goal gave Liverpool the distinction of becoming the first team in 17 attempts to win a competitive match at Elland Road, but Leeds will return to their league campaign with a sense of satisfaction and a two-point advantage at the top of their division.

It has not slipped the attention of Grayson or his players that MK Dons – like Leeds, play-off semi-finalists last season – are as competitive a club as they are likely to meet in League One this year.

And while Liverpool held United's attention at the start of the week, Grayson never viewed the Carling Cup tie as anything more than a pressure-free opportunity for the club's players to express themselves against a team riddled with international players.

"I told my squad that if we lost to Liverpool it wouldn't be the end of the world," said Grayson. "More important was the Gillingham game beforehand and MK Dons afterwards.

"We'll prepare ourselves for MK Dons now. The players are going to be tired because they covered some ground and put in a hell of a shift."

Saturday's 4-1 victory over Gillingham gave no impression of wavering attention among United's players and Grayson will look for similarly sharp focus in Milton Keynes, a location where United were badly beaten in December.

His side collected 13 points from a possible 15 after news of the Carling Cup's third-round draw was released last month, and Patrick Kisnorbo – the pick of United's players at Elland Road on Tuesday evening – was clear about the need for his team-mates to digest their performance quickly.

Kisnorbo said: "We can't get too excited about anything. The experience of playing Liverpool was fantastic but, even though we've performed well, there's a lot of work to be done.

"There's a feeling of excitement in the dressing room, but also one of disappointment.