Palace's Yorkshire-born manager returns to the county tonight to contest a second-round clash which he hopes will continue his side's passage towards the latter stages of the competition, but the London club will be met by a strong United team and a Leeds boss who is no more willing to accept an early exit.

Gary McAllister fielded a virtual full-strength line-up in United's first-round victory at Chester City on August 12, and he will take the same approach against Championship opposition this evening, the first of four successive home games facing Leeds.

The Elland Road club are under mild pressure after disappointing League One results against Oldham Athletic and Yeovil Town, but McAllister is attracted by the possibility of a Premier League draw in the third round of the Carling Cup and will not gift Palace easy progression tonight.

"We're the home side, and we'll be buoyed by a decent crowd," McAllister said. "It looks like an even game to me and I don't know who are the favourites.

"We're going in against Championship opposition and Neil Warnock will enjoy coming back to Yorkshire so it'll be very competitive.

"It's a nice barometer to gauge where we actually are because we're pitching in against a team from a higher division. It's a good test but we're looking to progress."

United's prospects of reaching round three have been improved by Palace's unspectacular start to the season and the loss of influential players Shaun Derry and James Scowcroft to suspension ahead of tonight's game.

Palace have accrued two points from their three league matches without scoring a goal, and they came from behind to knock Hereford United out of the Carling Cup in the first round.

Warnock's priority, like that of McAllister, will be attacking the play-off positions in his division, but the former Sheffield United manager is also placing great importance on his club's League Cup campaign.

"It's a great draw," said Warnock, who managed Leeds' Yorkshire rivals Sheffield United for seven years before moving south to Selhurst Park last season.

"It will probably be the biggest gate of the night and should be a great atmosphere.

"The Carling Cup is very important and I'd like to win it. I'll be putting a strong side out."

United have only one major fitness doubt – that concerning Alan Sheehan who took a knock to his head at Yeovil on Saturday and left Huish Park with mild concussion – but McAllister may decide to make changes to his line-up after Leeds' 1-1 draw in Somerset.

England youth international Fabian Delph started their first-round tie at Chester and is in contention for promotion from the bench again this evening, and Bradley Johnson and Ben Parker are likely to compete for the left-back position if Sheehan fails to prove his fitness.

McAllister admitted his dissatisfaction at his side's tally of four points after three League One fixtures, and said: "The game against Oldham wasn't down to a lack of effort. There was just a lack of quality.

"The effort was never in doubt (against Yeovil) either but, again, I think we can improve on our quality. I believe that we've got good players who, under pressure, can get the ball down and pass.

"After the last two games, we need to get better at that. We've been put under a lot of pressure by Oldham and Yeovil and we've only come out with one point."

But winger Andy Robinson is hoping a victory tonight will lift the mood at Elland Road, saying: "It's early days and we've got to look forward to the Palace game.

"The Carling Cup's a good competition and it's a chance to bury the hatchet on our performance at Yeovil."

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