Skipper impressed by Leeds steel

Club captain Alan Thompson's return to fitness could not have come at a better time for Dennis Wise as the busy festive period approaches. The skipper's return takes on even more significance given the knee injury suffered by Jonathan Douglas at Walsall last Saturday which seems likely to keep him sidelined until early January at best. But as so often happens in football, bad luck for one player opens the door of opportunity to another, and Thompson cannot wait to get back in the thick of the action.

'I see myself as a key player, but I'm not getting any younger,' said the midfielder. 'I'm 34 this week and when you reach that age you need to get fit and stay fit - otherwise you're not a lot of use to the manager. I've had a calf strain and a hamstring strain, and they seemed to come along together. There isn't much you can do about that, but it's not great when you've been in good shape throughout the summer and through the first couple of weeks of the season.'

'Last season when we were backs to the wall the manager would have thrown me straight in because you have to take risks when you are under pressure like we were. But the team's going well this season so the challenge is to get back into the team, not walk back into it. You have to earn the right and the lads who are in there at the minute are doing that. We've lost two games and drawn a couple, so you struggle to pick fault with that. A team in that sort of form picks itself. I don't see a place in the side as a given, and nor do any of the players.'

United conjured another late goal at the weekend to continue a rare habit which seems to separate the successful teams from the rest, a fact which has not been lost on the skipper. 'There's a lot of steel and grit in the team,' he observed. 'You've seen it against Walsall, but I think we showed those qualities right from the start of the season. Alright, the goal's come late. But we've done that a few times, and you get your reward for never saying die. We're going to need that between now and May.'