Leeds completed their pre-season commitments with an impressive 4-1 win over FCV Dender at Elland Road on Saturday, and the club are preparing to start the new campaign with a noon kick-off against Scunthorpe United next weekend.

The high standard of United's performance against Dender – a top-flight Belgian side – is expected to secure starting places at Glanford Park for the majority of the 11 players who began Saturday's friendly, and McAllister is also ready to confirm the identity of the club's captain for the forthcoming season.

The Leeds boss has taken several weeks to consider which of his players will carry the armband following their return to training at the start of July, and a number of different candidates are vying for the position.

Frazer Richardson, who is about to begin his seventh year as a senior player with Leeds, has operated as captain for much of pre-season and took up the armband again against Dender, and the full-back appears favourite to land the role.

McAllister may also consider returning the captaincy to Jonathan Douglas, who finished last season as United's skipper after stepping in to replace the now retired Alan Thompson, and he will draw his players together later this week to make his announcement.

McAllister said: "I've got it sorted in my mind but I want to name the captain in the lead up to the Scunthorpe game.

"I need 11 leaders out on the pitch and we've got a good mix of experience and youngsters. I'll make a decision in the middle of the week."

United will head for Glanford Park with growing confidence after the side led out by Richardson on Saturday dispatched Dender with a clinical display.

Paul Huntington, Rui Marques and Jermaine Beckford all found the net inside 34 minutes to give Leeds a 3-0 lead at half-time, and Huntington's late header wrapped up their 4-1 win after Bart Van den Eede replied for the visitors during a brief spell of Dender pressure after the interval.

The crushing success ensured that United completed their pre-season schedule without defeat and left McAllister to admit that his starting line-up for Glanford Park is virtually assured. "The sharpness was good and the team looked strong," he said. "We passed the ball well at times.

"My knowledge of Belgian football isn't great and Dender aren't a side I'm familiar with, but they are in the top-flight in their country and that was the opposition we were looking for – a team playing in a league above us.

"Taking away the top three or four sides in Belgium, you'd compare the rest to the Championship and that's not being disrespectful. We were playing opposition who we felt were at a higher level, but we worked them hard and deserved our victory.

"It doesn't take a genius to realise that the team in the first hour will be pretty close to my starting line-up at Scunthorpe. But we've got another week for people to show me that they warrant a place in the starting XI."

McAllister was able to give four of his five summer signings their first experience of playing at Elland Road on Saturday, omitting only Argentinian striker Luciano Becchio, who is suffering from a minor hamstring injury but should be fit for the trip to Scunthorpe.

United reserved their biggest win of pre-season for their only friendly at Elland Road, and McAllister believes his squad will head into the new campaign with greater strength in depth than the pool of players which reached the League One play-off final last term.

"I'm very lucky that I've got two players for every position," he said.

"I've got good options in the final third, which is something I didn't really have last season, and we've added a bit more firepower and a bit more quality. I've got to say that I'm happy."

United's second string also secured victory on Saturday, inflicting a 1-0 defeat on Newport County through Nathan Cartman's 84th-minute goal.