It must be a tough time for Blackburn Rovers supporters at the moment. Not only did they see their multi-million pound team relegated from the Premiership last season - but, despite being hot favourites to bounce back immediately this time around, they have so far failed to make a major impression in the First Division.

Their six year stint in the top flight saw theim crowned as Champions as recently as 1995 - yet they struggled to overcome the loss of Dalglish and Shearer and, despite a highly promising start under previous manager, Roy Hodgson, he was unable to halt last season's free-fall and was replaced by Brian Kidd. Unfortunately for them, though, the ex-Man United number two, fared little better and could only watch bemused as his team plummeted to relegation.

This time round, they were everyone's pre-season favourites to go storming back up. However, with nearly a quarter of the season gone, they are languishing in twelfth place and - having won only three of their nine games - they already find themselves seven points behind the leading pair, Charlton and Manchester City.

David O'Leary, of course, will be taking the Worthington Cup seriously again this season - as it offers his young team an opportunity to get their hands on that all important first trophy. Leeds are even chartering a £10,000 private jet to get him back from Russia in time to watch Wednesday's game. Bearing this in mind, along with the fact that we have only been beaten once at home this season, Rovers have only won once away and haven't managed a victory at Elland Road for forty years, we should start as favourites!! However, the Leeds management team will be taking nothing for granted: a Blackburn win over the Premiership leaders would be a massive boost for their league campaign and help to kick start their season - so you can bet they will be firing on all cylinders.

Ian Harte looks set to miss his first game of the season. His knee operation was, at the time, described as minor. However, it now looks set to keep him out of action for at least a fortnight. More worryingly, with Granville on loan and Hiden still not 100%, we don't look to have a lot of cover at left back. Radebe is still a doubt following his injury at Watford, but should be fit to play, whilst Bowyer's hamstring injury, sustained during Friday's England U21 game, will be another worry for O'Leary and Gray.

Blackburn hope to have Jason McAteer available to start his first senior start for six months, whilst Lee Carsley's foot injury - which required an x-ray - is not as serious as originally feared.

Leeds underperformed on the evening but, as seems to be the case at the moment, still had enough in the tank to dispose of First Division Blackburn Rovers, at Elland Road tonight. However, it took until the 90th minute before we could force ourselves into a lead: Danny MIlls stepping forward to put a free kick beyond Rovers' keeper, Filan.

David O'Leary has already stated that he sees the Worthington Cup as an ideal opportunity to put some silverware in the Elland Road trophy cabinet. With that in mind, he decided to field a full strength side, unlike several of the other top Premiership Managers. The only change from the team that won at Watford was that Danny Mills was brought in to replace the injured Ian Harte. Lee Bowyer was still injured so Eirik Bakke again deputised.

The game started rather disappointingly with Rovers, if anything, offering the larger threat. As early as the fourth minute, we knew we were in for a tought game. Duff raced in from the left weing, got the better of Danny Mills before hitting a low shot towards Martyn. The ball travelled along the ground and was easily gathered by the England keeper.

It wasn't until the 20th minute that United offered a real threat. A fantastic cross field ball from Batty found Mills on the right. He found Bridges, then Bakke who played a neat first time pass to Smith. The Leeds youngster hammered a fierce shot towards goal but Filan somehow managed to palm the ball away to safety.

However, Blackburn were determined not to be pushed aside. First, a move involving Duff and Jansen led to the latter having an attempt foiled by Radebe, then Jansen ran at the heart of the Leeds defence to play a pass to Duff. This time, Damien required too much time to compose himself and was denied.

On 35 minutes, United supporters had a scare when Kelly was stretchered off. This followed a suicidal ball from Hopkin which led Johnson to lunge in on the Leeds defender. Following Kelly's recent injury record, every Leeds fan in the ground must have feared the worst but, thankfully, he was soon to return and play his part in the United performance.

The half time break was looming but still the action didn't cease. Kewell, who was our only real threat throughout the opening period, glided past Richardson only to see his whipped cross cut out by Filan. Leeds' first half performance had been a little disappointing. but still we had done enough to suggest there might be better to come in the second half.

Following the interval, we showed a little more urgency in our play but still weren't making the most of all the possession we were enjoying. O'Leary made a couple of changes at half time - with Huckerby and McPhail replacing Bridges and Hopkin. However, Blackburned remained difficult to break down, well organized in midfield and defence - and they still had the occasional dangerous looking chance up front.

In the 56th minute, Mills ran all of thirty yards, only to blast the ball straight at the Blackburn keeper. Then, just a couple of minutes later, Filan again needed to be alert, tipping over Batty's deflected shot when a goal looked certain.

In the 77th minute, Kewell - who had been our most dangerous attacker throughout the match - left three Blackburn defenders for dead, before forcing another save from Filan. However, it wasn't until the final minute of the game that we eventually took the lead. With the clock ticking into injury time, Huckerby stepped forward to take a free kick just outside the Blackburn box. His effort went wide of the post but the referee had already blown to ask the wall to stand further back. This time, Mills stepped forward. His shot went through the wall and squirmed under Filan's body, to give us a very late winning goal.

We had probably done just enough to deserve the win - but it was a long way short of being a good performance. Especially in the first half, the whole game had the feeling of a training ground kickaround and Brian Kidd will feel unlucky not to have forced the match into extra time.

Meanwhile, we have been drawn against old Cup foes, Leicester City in the next round - which should be a cracking encounter and, presumably, another televised game?

United Star Man: David Batty