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Grayson considers loan signing

Image: Simon Grayson: The Leeds boss was less than impressed with Rachubka

Leeds manager Simon Grayson may be tempted into the loan market for a goalkeeper after the 5-0 home loss to Blackpool.

Holloway keen to point to positives in convincing win

Leeds manager Simon Grayson may be tempted into the loan market for a goalkeeper before the weekend after Paul Rachubka's catastrophic display in the 5-0 home loss to Blackpool. On-loan Liverpool playmaker Jonjo Shelvey inspired Ian Holloway's side with his first career hat-trick and he was ably supported by Lomana LuaLua, who bagged a brace on his first Blackpool start. Shelvey, LuaLua and Callum McManaman were irresistible at times in a fluid Blackpool attack, but a dismal first half from Rachubka had a decisive influence on the outcome and saw 18-year-old rookie Alex Cairns handed his professional debut between the posts in the second period. After parrying a Shelvey shot into LuaLua's path for Blackpool's opener, Rachubka's horrendous drop from Alex Baptiste's cross resulted in Tom Lees receiving a red card for handling Ludovic Sylvestre's goalbound shot and Shelvey netting his first from the penalty spot. By the time he let LuaLua's speculative drive squirm to Shelvey for the third, Grayson had seen enough. "The real kick in the teeth was the three mistakes Paul made, unfortunately," said Grayson. "There's not a lot I could say to him. He's obviously really down but I felt I had no opportunity to keep him on. "I felt for himself, for the team, for the club that it was best I took him out of the limelight. Obviously his confidence was very low."

Chequered

Rachubka has suffered a chequered start to his Leeds career since first-choice keeper Andy Lonergan was sidelined with a finger injury last month and Grayson's previous statements of public support for the former Manchester United trainee appeared to have wavered as he discussed the prospect of a loan move. "It's something I have to consider for the weekend," he said. "Do I play Paul, do I play Alex Cairns, who is a young kid, or do I go into the loan market? "If we're going to do something we'll do it before the weekend but we'll have to see what's out there and if I decide to do it or not. "I've got a good young goalkeeper in Alex Cairns. Is the game too big for him on Saturday? We'll have to wait and see." Rachubka joined Leeds after his release by Blackpool in the summer, and Seasiders boss Ian Holloway expressed sympathy for his former player but was also keen to praise his own side for adapting to a tactical switch following the weekend defeat to Burnley. When asked whether the focus would be on goalkeeping errors, he responded: "Not for me it isn't. It was the way we started - the linking between the front three, the linking between the midfield three.
Mental
"The other day I changed to 4-4-2 because we weren't getting it right at all, and I just wanted to go back to basics. "I did something that I haven't done for over a year, which is mental, but the lads understand what I want. "We have to continue working and get some consistency in this division, but that looked like my team, we played the way that I want my team to play. "I felt we hurt their back four, we kept the ball and moved it and moved them around, and that got us in."

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