Hughes was part of a Leeds team which showed eight changes from Saturday's 1-1 draw at Yeovil Town, and the revised line-up made the most of their opportunity with a 4-0 rout of Palace at Elland Road.

United had scored five times in their first-round win over Chester City and two goals in either half last night confirmed their place in the draw for round three, but of greater concern to Gary McAllister was Leeds' impressive recovery from their stalemate with Yeovil and a defeat to Oldham Athletic.

Hughes made his first outing of the season last night, an indication of the competition in McAllister's midfield, and the 30-year-old said: "I think the manager wanted a bit more desire and a bit more liveliness. He got it and the lads got their reward.

"The last couple of games have been disappointing for him and for the players, and he's taken the chance to shake the team up and give it a bit of freshness.

"A lot of players are very disappointed when they're left out of the first team, but if you get in there and take your chance then it leaves the manager with a decision about whether or not to stick with his team. The bottom line is that we're trying to get Leeds United out of this league and although certain players are going to be disappointed, it's how they react that counts.

"Hopefully we've given the manager the reaction he wanted. I thought some of the players were phenomenal."

A strong Palace side minus the suspended Shaun Derry and James Scowcroft were easily outclassed by McAllister's team, which included youngster Fabian Delph in midfield and 16-year-old debutant Aidan White at left-back.

White impressed sufficiently during a reserve clash with Huddersfield Town at Elland Road last week to merit inclusion and was handed a starting place last night with first-choice Alan Sheehan recovering from concussion.

Hughes said: "Fabian and Aidan were unbelievable.

"You can talk about them being young, but they were both men against Palace. They looked fearless."

McAllister was understandably delighted by United's performance against Championship opposition, but the Leeds boss insisted he had no preference as to who the club draw in the next stage of the Carling Cup.

"We'll take whoever comes out the hat," he said. "The fortunate thing with having the squad we do is that we're always going to field a strong side.

"I've got to be pleased after that performance. I always had it in mind to make a few changes and use a different formation and I thought it worked.

"But as much as there was no panic after the last two performances, I'm not going overboard with this.

"It's still very early in the season and people are trying to find their form.

"I'm asking players to step up to the plate and when they get the chance, to take it.

"They all performed for me so it's onwards and upwards. It shows that we do have a very strong squad and that competition brings out quality in people."

Neil Warnock, Palace's manager, was at a loss to explain his side's heavy defeat, saying: "You'd expect one of my teams to perform better than that. Some of the lads let me down.

"I'm not used to coming to Leeds and losing.

"I usually enjoy putting one over on them but they thoroughly deserved the win. I've no complaints."

Meanwhile, Leeds have confirmed that they have terminated the contract of midfielder Robert Bayly by mutual consent.

The Irish youngster has been released to give him time to find a new club before the transfer window closes after McAllister made it clear that he was one of several players who have little chance of first-team football at Elland Road.

McAllister said: "It's another case of a player who's going to have limited chances in a very competitive area of the pitch.

"I suggested he try and find football elsewhere, and we wish him all the best."

The 20-year-old took part in most of United's senior pre-season programme this summer but has made only three first-team appearances for Leeds.