THE cliché that league form counts for nought when knockout boots are worn will be the message Leeds United will need to heed tomorrow.

Simon Grayson’s men swap an irresistible rise to the top of the Coca-Cola League One for the opening salvoes in the FA Cup when they travel to Oldham Athletic.

Leeds are no fewer than seven points clear of their nearest league challengers while the Latics languish in mid-table some 16 points adrift of their visitors from West Yorkshire.

But in a game screened live on television at tea-time tomorrow night Leeds will have to guard against their cup appetite being ruined by an Oldham side fired up by the occasion of the world’s oldest knockout cup competition.

At least two key performers in the Leeds’ ranks should be brimming with sky-high confidence going into tonight’s all-League One tussle.

Top scorer Jermaine Beckford, – he has already plundered 11 goals in 14 games this term – has scooped the PFA Coca-Cola One fans’ player of the month award for October, a month in which he poached four goals in three outings.

And defender Paddy Kisnorbo has been called up by the full Australian squad for their Asian Cup qualifier against Oman in Muscat later this month.