Leeds United boss David O'Leary was hoping for the luck of the draw when they were pulled out of the UEFA Cup third-round hat later today given the fears surrounding his squad.

O'Leary is guaranteed to be without Mark Viduka and Harry Kewell for the first leg on Thursday, November 22 as the Australia internationals are on World Cup play-off duty.

If Leeds are also drawn away from home first then Lee Bowyer and Jonathan Woodgate will be ruled out given the re-trial at Hull Crown Court is certain to be ongoing by that date.

So the last thing O'Leary needs is to face a credible opponent in the last 32, but at least Leeds are again seeded, ensuring they avoid any of the eight teams to drop out of the Champions League and into this stage of the UEFA Cup.

"I fancy somebody easy in the next round - that would be great," said O'Leary as he looked ahead to the draw in Geneva.

"We don't have the Australian lads, and on top of that there's the court case going on which means we could be without Lee and Woody.

"I will have a very depleted squad, and that's providing I've no injuries by then, so it's already going to be very hard."

Leeds certainly made hard work of disposing of Troyes, the French minnows who made sure the biggest game in their short history lived up to its billing.

After Mark Viduka's sixth goal of the season - his fifth in six games - had cancelled out Gharib Amzine's stunning eighth-minute opener, Leeds were staring at the exit signs when David Hamed and Jerome Rothen made it 3-1.

Patrice Loko's 63rd-minute miss with only Nigel Martyn to beat will haunt him for a long time to come, and proved the turning point as Robbie Keane spared Leeds' blushes 13 minutes from time by heading home his seventh goal of the season.