LEEDS United may have escaped with a last-gasp FA Cup leveller at Cardiff on Sunday, but they simply can’t buy a home draw.

Elland Road will stage its first FA Cup tie since 2016, but even if they beat the Welsh club in the replay on Tuesday, 17 January they will be on the road again in the fourth round.

They were the last number pulled out and have been paired against the winners of the Boreham Wood vs Accrington Stanley replay, which will be played during the period of the 27th-30th January.

It is the tenth successive away tie Leeds have been handed in the competition. Since 2002 they have been drawn away from home 30 times in their last 35 ties – the worst hand any club has been dealt in recent years.

It needed an injury-time poacher’s goal from 18-year-old Sonny Perkins to salvage a 2-2 draw which kept the tie alive and avoided an embarrassing defeat against a rotated side put together by manager Mark Hudson, who is prioritising Championship survival over potential FA Cup glory.

Jesse Marsch made seven changes to the team which faced West Ham last Wednesday and United began well, with debutant Darko Gyabi prominent. But there were also early signs of frailty in defence where Pascal Struijk, donning the captain’s armband for the first time, was way off the pace.

Cardiff took the lead against the run of play as Jaden Philogene netted from close range on 24 minutes after the visitors were easily sliced open. Sheyi Ojo added a second six minutes later and Leeds simply found no response before the interval.

Booed of at half-time by many of the 6,000-plus travelling fans, the Whites continued in a pedestrian manner against a side sitting 20th in the Championship until Marsch turned to his bench. Rodrigo, new signing Max Wober and Cody Drameh, who spent half of last season on loan at Cardiff, finally adding some bite to Leeds’ performance.

Rodrigo halved the deficit with a header but saw a late penalty saved by Jack Alnwick after Joel Bagan pushed Junior Firpo’s goal-bound shot away with his hand. Bagan inevitably saw red but just as it seemed the ten men would hold out under immense pressure, late sub Perkins flicked in his first senior goal.

Marsch said: “I have to thank our fans today because I think without them being behind the goal where we were pushing and having so many of them and having their energy to stay in the match, I don’t think we get ourselves back in, so I think the fans deserve a lot of credit. 

“But if we’ve learned one thing it’s that if you don’t show up and you’ve not ready to play from the beginning, you cause yourself problems.”