A competitive outing was welcome and necessary for the senior players absent or only briefly involved in Saturday's League One defeat to Oldham Athletic, and McAllister did not see fit to waste the chance to remind his squad of the depth in their ranks.

The show of strength at Elland Road yesterday evening – when United's midfield consisted of four players with a combined total of 203 appearances for Leeds – may have been as much for the benefit of the team beaten 2-0 by Oldham as it was for any watching opposition scouts, and the club's second string met their side of the bargain with a spirited performance in a 3-2 defeat.

McAllister intimated at the weekend that he would not be tempted into wholesale changes within his senior team by their first defeat of the season, but the line-up selected by his reserve coach, Neil Thompson, last night provided ample evidence that he has the personnel to do so.

Neil Kilkenny returned to United's fold with his first appearance for Leeds since their opening pre-season friendly and his summons to the Olympic Games in Beijing, and a sharp-looking quartet completed by Jonathan Douglas, Andrew Hughes and Bradley Johnson confirmed that the players in waiting are numerous and ready for promotion from the sidelines.

Luciano Becchio and Lubomir Michalik took to the field for the Central League East Division game with the same intention, and the first reserve fixture of the new season produced as open and genuine a contest as McAllister could have asked for.

It furthered his plans for a meaningful game to see Town select a team of comparative strength, including recent signing David Unsworth and trialist goalkeeper Paul Gerrard, both former members of Everton's squad.

So experienced was the visiting line-up that several of the players fielded by Mick Doherty, Town's reserve-team coach, had played in the league game between the clubs at Elland Road last December.