Leeds United manager Kevin Blackwell is backing his players to put their Crewe nightmare behind them when Preston visit Elland Road tomorrow.

Blackwell's men are still smarting from the stinging criticism they received after losing at Gresty Road on Tuesday night. The manager pulled no punches at the time, but he was disappointed by the reaction of some fans who rained verbal abuse on the players after the game.

Blackwell said: "We all know that performance wasn't good enough but the players do care and it hurt them and me when some fans had a real go at them after the game. Those players have brought Leeds United a long way in a short time. We are fifth with a game in hand, so in the overall scheme of things I don't think they deserved such criticism.

"They have given this club more to shout about than some of the multi-millionaire players who walked away very wealthy and didn't give a fly's thought to the club.

"The Crewe result was like a dagger through the heart, but there will be occasional blips like that. They are an honest set of lads and I am looking for a positive response from them on Saturday."

Some players fell out among themselves during the Crewe game, but Blackwell said: "That showed how much they cared. It was pure frustration because we wanted to finish the game in third place and it went wrong. Sometimes the harder you work the worse things get."

United have four former Preston players in Eddie Lewis, Richard Cresswell, Sean Gregan and David Healy, but Cresswell is still out with a long term injury and Gregan has spent the last three league games on the bench.

American international Lewis is set to face Preston for the first time since his free transfer in the summer and he said: "We are just looking forward to getting back on track because we let our fans down at Crewe.

"Any supporter who makes the effort to turn up and spend his money doesn't want to be subjected to a result or performance like that. Whether at home or away, the fans deserve better and we are a more accomplished team than we showed the other night.

"Although I had a good relationship with the Preston fans I'll have to wait and see how they react to me. They didn't mind too much when Richard Cresswell came to Leeds because Preston got a lot of money for him but that wasn't the case with me."

Lewis added: "They've been calling Leeds 'Preston Old Boys' so with both camps knowing so much about each other it should be an interesting match."

Blackwell is still trying to make a loan signing in time for the game, but he doesn't anticipate making many team changes despite the Crewe defeat. Gylfi Einarsson completes his three-match suspension.

Updated: 11:12 Friday, November 04, 2005