APP: LEEDS CAN GIVE US A SLAP

League Cup, 7.45pm

MICHAEL APPLETON warned his Leicester team to beware a “buoyant” Leeds tonight.

The caretaker Foxes boss is wary of the threat posed by the Championship side, who won 3-0 at Bristol City on Saturday.

Appleton (above), who led Leicester to a 2-1 win over Swansea in his first game since taking over from Craig Shakespeare, said: “It’s a big game. They’ve had a fantastic win away from home so they will be buoyant.

“It’s an opportunity for both sides to progress into the last eight, which is a big thing for the football club.

“Leeds are the type of club where you almost feel like they’re a Premier League side because of the following that they’ll probably bring.

“We are usually an underdog a lot of the time, but I believe that if you’ve got a squad of 18 or 22 players, if you’re struggling to give them opportunities in the league fixtures, the cup competitions can be really good.

“The fact that we’ve come through two tough games so far, hopefully they’ll see it as an opportunity to impress.

“You talk about the big clubs not taking them seriously, but when you get to the quarter-final and semi-final stage or even the last 16, then all of a sudden one or two big hitters start getting some game time unlike the earlier rounds.”

Leeds boss Thomas Christiansen confirmed Northern Ireland winger Stuart Dallas will miss the game following the death of this mother.

He will also be without full-back Gaetano Berardi, who is serving a three-match ban after being sent off for head-butting Matty Taylor during the victory at Ashton Gate.