Snodgrass made his eighth start of the season in Friday night's FA Cup first-round match at Elland Road, and his performance was the highlight of a frustrating 1-1 draw which has forced Leeds to contest a replay at Sixfields in eight days' time.

United will settle their tie with Northampton on Tuesday, November 18, and the winners of that match have been drawn away to Blue Square Premier club Histon in round two.

Snodgrass received the man-of-the-match award at full-time on Friday, a prize he admitted was little consolation for the result against Northampton, and his outing has given Gary McAllister food for thought ahead of United's trip to Pride Park.

Leeds expect leading scorer Jermaine Beckford to recover from a hip injury in time to feature in tomorrow's Carling Cup fourth-round tie, but Snodgrass has put himself in contention to face up to Championship opposition as Leeds bid to reach the quarter-finals of the competition for the first time in 12 years.

The former Livingston forward said: "It's been a while since I started a game, but you can see the amount of talent we have here. You just have to work as hard as possible week-in, week-out, and hope that the gaffer gives you a chance.

"When you do get a chance you try to do the best you can, and hopefully I'll be in his plans for the next game.

"But he makes the decisions and I'll let him decide that. It can be frustrating when you're not starting, but we're winning games, we're playing good football and we're second in the league.

"There's nothing better than being at a club like Leeds United with 25,000 fans coming to your games so I can't be unhappy.

Snodgrass echoed McAllister's mild disappointment after Leeds failed to settle their FA Cup clash with Northampton at the first attempt, despite seeing their visitors reduced to 10 men after 27 minutes, and he admitted his post-match prize had given him little satisfaction.

"It doesn't really count for much because we gave them a bit of a doing," Snodgrass said.

"We've had 20-odd efforts on goal and we're disappointed to come away with a draw. It wasn't to be."

The Scottish striker quickly turned his attention to tomorrow's night's clash at Derby – a club ranked 13th in the Championship – and he described the match as another opportunity for Leeds to prove themselves equal to clubs in England's second tier.

United eliminated Crystal Palace in the second round of the Carling Cup by thrashing Neil Warnock's team 4-0 at Elland Road, and Derby's recent momentum was damaged during a 3-0 defeat to Reading on Saturday.

Snodgrass said: "They know we're no mugs. We'll go there, give it our all and hopefully get into the quarter-finals.

"When I look at the players in the Championship, I think we're there or thereabouts. Come May, I'm sure we'll be in there and playing against teams like (Derby) every week next year."

Cambridgeshire club Histon, meanwhile, landed a home meeting with either Leeds or Northampton in yesterday's draw for round two of the FA Cup after eliminating Swindon Town.

The tie will be staged on the weekend of November 29 and would be United's first competitive meeting with non-league opposition since 1999, when they eliminated Rushden and Diamonds in a third-round replay at Elland Road.

FA Cup sponsored by E.ON second round draw: Chesterfield v Darlington or Droylsden; Peterboro' v Acc Stanley or Tranmere Rovers; Eastwood Town v AFC Wimbledon or Wycombe Wanderers; Notts County v Kettering Town or Lincoln City; Leicester City v Hereford or Dag & Red; Eastbourne or Barrow v Brentford; Bradford City v Leyton Orient; AFC Telford United or Southend United v Luton Town or Altrincham; Forest Green v Barnet or Rochdale; Histon v Leeds United or Northampton Town; Scunthorpe United v Alfreton Town; Torquay United v Oxford United or Dorchester Town; Leiston or Fleetwood Town v Brighton or Hartlepool United; Morecambe v Cheltenham or Oldham Athletic; Gillingham v Yeovil Town or Stockport County; Millwall v Aldershot or Rotherham; Carlisle or Grays Athletic v Crewe Alex; Bournemouth v Blyth Spartans; Kidderminster Harriers v Curzon Ashton; Port Vale v Macclesfield Town.

Ties to be played November 29-30.