Leeds suffered their first league defeat in seven matches at Peterborough United last weekend and were attempting to avoid a third successive loss in all competitions against Brighton at Elland Road today, but McAllister claimed a disappointing dip in form had not altered his focus on a top-two finish.

United held fourth place in League One before kick-off this afternoon and look likely to remain in the upper sections of the division all season having reached the play-off final last season.

But McAllister confessed that the size of United's squad, which holds more than 20 professional players, and extent of the wage bill at Elland Road were increasing the pressure on him to secure promotion automatically and avoid the possibility of another unpredictable decider at Wembley.

McAllister said: "That's the only option.

"We're looking for automatic promotion and I can't hide from that. I can't go round the houses and say any different.

"When you're manager of Leeds United, I think people would see through it if I said anything else.

"We've got one of the biggest squads in the league and we've got players who've played above this level so we automatically come into contention as one of the teams that should be looking to get promotion.

"I'm happy with that pressure. It goes with the territory and I wouldn't have it any other way."

United recovered from a mixed set of results during the first month of the season to ease through September with six straight victories, but McAllister has been forced to address two below-par performances this week which left Leeds in danger of suffering a third straight loss today for the first time in 18 months.

But McAllister insisted the defeats required perspective, saying: "We're not so over-confident that we think we can go the entire season without losing a game.

"Good teams lose games – it's about how you react."

United's boss, meanwhile, has confirmed that left-back Alan Sheehan will be out of action for the "foreseeable future"after tearing a hamstring in Wednesday night's Johnstone's Paint Trophy defeat to Rotherham United.