Leeds United goalkeeper Felix Wiedwald has made the big admission that he was becoming tired this season and that he has benefited from a break.
The 27-year-old moved to Elland Road in the summer and has endured a mixed start to life in English football.
He became the number one for the Whites at the beginning of the campaign and helped them rise to the top of the Championship with six clean sheets from the opening seven league games.
However, his form began to drop off with some costly individual errors and manager Thomas Christiansen decided to axe him after the international break.
Andy Lonergan has started the last two matches for Leeds in goal and is currently in the driving seat in the battle for number one.
Wiedwald put his struggling form down to the busy fixture list in English football that has made him tired, something he was not so used to in homeland Germany.
“The coach said that I had a lot of games in a short time before and I would need a break,” Wiedwald told German outlet Deich Stube.
“And it is true, you really have to get used to playing always on Tuesdays and Saturdays.
“I’ve noticed that I’ve become tired. As a goalkeeper it is not so easy to play so often, especially for the head. The break has done well, but it does not have to last forever.”
Wiedwald is not the only player to endure a dip in form after a blistering start to the campaign and defender Pontus Jansson publicly apologised for his performances in recent weeks.
Both senior players were on the bench at the weekend as Leeds beat Bristol City 3-0 and will hope to force their way back into Christiansen’s plans immediately.
OPINION
Wiedwald can certainly force his way back into the permanent Leeds XI and will have to prove to the manager in training he should be above Lonergan in the pecking order. The Whites face Leicester on Tuesday night in the Carabao Cup and that could be the perfect opportunity for Wiedwald to prove himself. The 27-year-old has already shown he is very useful in possession, but also needs to become a big physical presence that can demand his penalty area. Wiedwald will need to adjust his game slightly to become a number one in the Championship, but the former Werder Bremen shot stopper does have the potential to do so.