Leeds will confirm details of their 2009-10 schedule at 10am tomorrow and Snodin admitted to favouring a full-blooded contest against one of United's likely promotion rivals as the starting point for their campaign.

Norwich City, Charlton and Southampton were all condemned to relegation from the Championship this season, adding three former Premier League sides to League One's ranks, and though Southampton are trapped in administration, they appear to be edging towards a takeover, and all three clubs are expected to compete for promotion next season.

Snodin, who is gearing up for his first full campaign as a coach with Leeds, said: "They're the clubs who stand out in my eyes. I'd love to kick off with a game against one of them.

"Everyone's expecting those three clubs to be very competitive and there's nothing better than pitting yourselves against one of your main rivals straight away. It gets you into your stride early on and that would be ideal for us.

"You'd like to think that the clubs who've come down will pull in crowds of around 20,000 and that's the type of atmosphere we look for and thrive on. We want to make our intentions clear early on."

A strong promotion challenge is also expected to be mounted by Huddersfield Town, who have already completed a number of deals in the transfer market, landing Antony Kay from Tranmere Rovers and Peter Clarke from Southend United.

Snodin said: "We're not the only big club in this league but I'm confident we'll have as good a squad as anyone else. I hope we'll be the team to beat."

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