Leeds United manager David O'Leary today warned his players to button their lip if the club are to avoid plunging further into crisis.

While the rest of the country is currently in the grip of a flu epidemic, Elland Road has been hit by a dose of 'yellow fever.'

To add to United's crippling injury worries, with the likes of Lucas Radebe, David Batty, Robert Molenaar, Martin Hiden and Gary Kelly all sidelined, Leeds are now running into suspension trouble.

Ian Harte missed today's visit to Blackburn, defensive star Jonathon Woodgate is out of next week's game with Middlesbrough, and rising young striker Alan Smith is banned for either an FA Cup tie at Portsmouth or a league trip to Southampton later this month.

O'Leary's message, however, is directed at the quintet of key players who stand just one caution away from a one-match suspension as he struggles to name a squad which is down to the bare bones.

Alfie Haaland and Lee Bowyer have both been booked seven times this season, while skipper David Hopkin, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Clyde Wijnhard each have four yellow cards to their name.

While O'Leary does not want any of the five to give anything less than 100 per cent, he certainly does not want any unnecessary bookings, like giving a referee an ear-bashing.

"We have been very unfortunate with injuries, especially to our defenders," admitted O'Leary. "And sadly, in current football, you are always going to get suspensions.

"So many yellow cards are given out. Some of them, like Hopkin's at Arsenal, are completely inexplicable. He won the ball, but there is little you can do about it.

"There's no point saying 'ease up' to the players who have four bookings to their name. You can't really say anything.

"You are going to lose them at some stage, so they have to play their normal game and take the risk, hoping referees won't produce cards unnecessarily.

"What you don't want to see is players booked for mouthing off - for backchat to referees. That they can do something about."

O'Leary at least had David Wetherall back from his own one-game ban to bolster the heart of the defence alongside Woodgate today, given Radebe is still unavailable despite a run-out in the reserves this week after nearly a month out with a knee injury.

But the latest spate of problems have served to underline the lack of strength-in-depth at United, with Batty and Dutch winger Willem Korsten - on loan until the end of the season - the only signings to date.

O'Leary said: "It's why I have said all along that to challenge for the title we need a bigger squad of players like at Chelsea and Manchester United. It's obviously taken Alex Ferguson many, many years and many, many millions to put his squad together. He hasn't spent a fortune to have players sitting on the bench for nothing."

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