McDermott turns to youth for trip to Bournemouth TSS March 25, 2014 Leeds United 37 Comments Leeds United take on Bournemouth tonight in what must be considered a rather inconsequential clash between two mid-table sides with nothing left to play for at this stage of the season. The Whites will be without Connor Wickham who was recalled from his loan spell by Sunderland yesterday while Jimmy Kebe remains side-lined with a hamstring injury. Brian McDermott may use the opportunity to give a first team debut to youngster Lewis Walters who has travelled with the squad. The 18-year-old striker was the top goalscorer for the U18’s last season, earning him a new 2-year professional contract. Elsewhere, Lee Peltier’s future is in some doubt after it was announced he’d left to join Nottingham Forest on loan yesterday evening, only for Forest to later cancel the deal after failing to convince former Leeds boss Neil Warnock to takeover as manager. Bournemouth meanwhile could feature the familiar face of Ian Harte in their squad tonight. The left-back made 288 appearances for Leeds during a nine-year spell for the club but has only appeared a handful of times for Bournemouth this season. The Cherries’ only reported injury is midfielder Charlie Daniels who’ll remain side-lined with a thigh problem. With four wins, one draw and five clean-sheets in their last six outings, it’s no surprise to see online football betting companies have Bournemouth as clear favourites for this fixture. Odds on a Bournemouth win are around the evens mark while Leeds’ dismal form means you can get odds as high as 16/5 if you’re feeling confident. The last time these two sides met was at Elland Road in October in rather familiar circumstances as far as form goes. Leeds had been experiencing something of a mini-slump with four-straight defeats at the time, but found Bournemouth to be in a charitable mood when they gifted Leeds a penalty in the opening half hour, losing their keeper to a red card in the process. Ross McCormack missed the resulting penalty but soon made amends to give The Whites a 1-0 lead at half-time. Despite the man advantage however, Leeds struggled to put daylight between themselves and the visitors and when Lewis Grabban equalised from an Ian Harte free-kick, it looked like it was going to be another one of those days for Leeds. But McDermott’s earlier substitution paid off as Dominic Poleon latched onto a Stephen Warnock cross, lashing the ball home from close-range to secure all three points for a relieved Brian McDermott.