Leeds United manager Simon Grayson will be urging his players to go out and express themselves at Southampton on Saturday.

United travel to the St Mary's Stadium for the first time since relegation from the Championship was all-but confirmed, with a 1-0 defeat in April 2007, aiming to take another step towards returning to the division above.

Having picked up a 4-1 win at Tranmere in midweek, United headed south in good heart on Friday morning in readiness for the clash with a side which has scored 10 goals in their last two home games.

"It's a big game," said the United boss. "It's a fantastic arena, Southampton are a good club, and there'll be 30,000 plus there.

"They have spent good money and have some good, experienced players, and if it wasn't for the points deduction they would be pushing for the top three.

"If they don't make the Play-Offs they will probably be disappointed. They will feel they can get the gap back if they go on a good run and they will feel confident with the players they have.

"They've probably not quite had the consistency, but they are a major threat as a team.

"But this an opportunity for us to play in a decent ground, on a big pitch, and we the chance to express ourselves."

Southampton have had little problem scoring goals this season - striker Rickie Lambert has been in form since his move from Bristol Rovers - and Alan Pardew's side need a victory to keep the pressure on the teams around them.

United are also looking for a second league away win of the year and Grayson is forecasting an open contest.

"When you look back to last season and we played the likes of MK Dons, Tranmere, and Stockport at one stage, who were pushing for the Play-Offs, they were very open games with both teams trying to win," he said.

"All the teams in and around the top six want to win games to maintain and improve positions.

"Three points is a vital commodity. If we'd turned a few of our draws into wins we know where we would be.

"We'll be setting out to win the game on Saturday."

You can hear live commentary from Southampton on LUTV...