Wilkinson banks on McAllister

AFTER Leeds United's dour goalless FA Cup draw against Liverpool a fortnight ago, the Leeds manager, Howard Wilkinson, apologised ironically, saying he had told his side at half-time to provide more entertainment and allow the visitors three goals. It duly happened in the replay in midweek. Apparently it also took a while for messages to get to dinosaurs' brains.

The hope is that Wilkinson urged his side some time ago to grace today's Coca-Cola Cup final at Wembley with the kind of flowing football his captain Gary McAllister deserves around him rather than just when he is involved. We should not hold our breath, however. Leeds have not won a Wembley final since 1972 and Wilkinson, who has been increasingly criticised by the Leeds support, has talked of how much the match, and winning it, means to him personally. In such circumstances, the comfort blanket is familiarity.

Wilkinson is a manager who relishes the tactical challenge of assembling a team to negate the opposition's strengths. Uppermost in his mind will be how to curb the excursions on the flanks of Gary Charles and Alan Wright, whether to play three central defenders to offset Dwight Yorke and Savo Milosevic and possibly detailing Mark Ford, the embryonic David Batty, to tread on the toes of Villa's playmaker Mark Draper.

Meanwhile, Leeds will look to their own strengths to force the result; a corner where their physical presence comes into play, a free-kick where McAllister's precision might prevail. In open play, McAllister will be expected to load the bullets for the explosive Tony Yeboah to fire. Tomas Brolin, lavishly gifted but still looking less than fully fit, is likely to be a substitute.

Leeds have been left behind in the Premiership by the more expansive mood of the top clubs with similar support and income and have stumbled past mainly Endsleigh League sides through the Coca-Cola Cup.

By contrast, in Brian Little's first full season, Villa have recovered from near relegation to emerge as close challengers to the best. Theirs is a team now brimming with both match savers and match winners, from Mark Bosnich through Paul McGrath to Draper, Yorke and Milosevic, even without the developing, dynamic Tommy Johnson.

None of which is a guarantee of success, much as it might suit the purist. The irony should not be lost on Villa of how Ron Atkinson's team pulled asunder a Manchester United side tactically superior on paper two years ago. Nor should Little's last appearance at Wembley, that same season, be ignored. Then, in the First Division play-off, his Leicester City side included a forest of six-footers which bullied the more talented but less resolute Derby County into submission. Enjoyable his new Villa may be, but Little describes himself as "result-oriented".

He is under no illusions about the potency of the Leeds challenge. "Their full-backs are good attacking players, McAllister can cause us problems, Gary Speed arrives late, Carlton Palmer is very active and can break up a lot of our moves and there's Yeboah, who might not be in the game but from nowhere you can be one down."

While one can admire Wilkinson's organising skills, the real hope is that, as a reflection of the domestic game, Villa's greater all-round talent wins the day.