LEEDS United's Elland Road showdown with fellow strugglers QPR tomorrow night assumes massive importance after the 20th Championship defeat of the season for Dennis Wise's team.

Failure to overcome a Cardiff team reduced to nine men after the dismissals of goal-scorer Michael Chopra and former Leeds player Simon Walton was hugely disappointing, especially as United had looked the better side until they lost defender Rui Marques after a clash of heads with team-mate Jonathan Douglas, who returned with his head bandaged in the second half.

Cardiff scored while Douglas was off the field receiving treatment, Ian Westlake fouling Walton to concede the free-kick from which Chopra punished Caspar Ankergren's poor positioning.

Substitute Hayden Foxe, who replaced Marques, received a blow to the nose in the incident which saw Chopra sent off and Wise will check the fitness of Marques, Douglas and Foxe before naming his side to face QPR.

Better news is that midfielder Alan Thompson could be back after missing the last two games with a calf injury and there could be a start for strikers Richard Cresswell and David Healy who made substitute appearances at Cardiff.

Danish goalkeeper Ankergren was at fault with Chopra's goal by leaving a big gap for the Welshmen's leading scorer to fire home a free kick just before the interval. However, Ankergren redeemed himself with a penalty save from Steve Thompson.

Fortunately for United, they are just three points behind Luton, who are sixth from bottom, so they are not cast adrift without hope of survival.

Assistant manager Gus Poyet said: "We played so well for the first 30 minutes and then came the clash of heads. When you are down there, no-one helps you when you need good fortune. We were quite poor in making decisions on when to shoot, when to go forward and when to stay back, though we did put in plenty of effort.

"We need the fans to get right behind us against QPR because in our position we need to win every time we play at home."

Cardiff manager Dave Jones was angry with Leeds fans for singing songs about his child abuse case, in which he was acquitted. He said: "They are living in the past. If they think their chants upset me in any way they are absolute fools. If they want to see me and ask me about it, don't be cowards - because that is what they are."

For their part, Cardiff fans shamed themselves by chanting about the two Leeds fans killed in Istanbul in 2000.