Leeds United manager Marcelo Bielsa has confirmed that winger Stuart Dallas has been ruled out of the club’s clash against Norwich City this weekend as he is left sweating over the availability of centre back Pontus Jansson.
The Whites confirmed that they had welcomed back both the Northern Irish forward and the 6’3″ (source: Transfermarkt) Swedish defender to training via their official website but the match against the Canaries has come too soon for at least one of the pair.
As quoted on the personal Twitter account of journalist Phil Hay, Bielsa confirmed that Dallas would be joined by Liam Cooper and Adam Forshaw on the sidelines, while he was “waiting for more news” on whether Jansson, who missed the midweek clash against Swansea City through injury, would be able to feature.
Bielsa speaking now: Cooper out of Norwich, and Dallas and Forshaw too. Still waiting to decide on Jansson. "We are waiting for more news." #lufc
— Phil Hay (@PhilHay_) August 23, 2018
Opinion
Losing Dallas is by no means the biggest blow in the world, for there are plenty of other options Bielsa can choose from, but as proven against the Swans in midweek, the defence is a real issue for the manager and missing both Cooper and Jansson would be a heavy pill to swallow. He will be hoping that the Swedish powerhouse can recover enough to start the game, for without him the Argentine boss will have to revert to shoehorning other players in as makeshift centre backs, and with Norwich being no pushovers in the Championship, it is a recipe for disaster. Still, it is also no reason for the manager to gamble on the fitness of one of his star men, for it is better to miss him for one more game than bring him back too early and risk aggravating his injury issues. A difficult situation for Bielsa to manage.