Marcelo Bilesa has delivered a huge fitness boost to Leeds fans at his pre-match press conference ahead of Saturday’s game against Stoke.
He confirmed that Chelsea loanee Izzy Brown is “fit and ready to be involved”.
However, Bielsa said that he would also need six games to get fully up to speed and that he would need to prove himself after being out for so long.
Brown has only played for the Leeds Under-23s to date and is still to make his first-team debut.
Bielsa was quoted by Phil Hay from the press conference on Thursday afternoon.
Izzy Brown is fit and ready to be involved. Bielsa says he'll need six games to get fully up to speed and says he'll need to prove himself after such a long spell out. #lufc
— Phil Hay (@PhilHay_) January 17, 2019
OPINION
This is great news both for club and for player. Brown still hasn’t made an appearance for the Leeds first team, despite arriving in the summer. Leeds aren’t paying any of his wages until he’s fully fit though, but it looks like they might have to start coughing up soon. Brown isn’t going to start against Stoke on Saturday but he could well make the bench and start to make an impact in a Leeds shirt. He looked really sharp in the second 45 minutes of the Under-23s clash against Crewe on Monday and that seems to have propelled him straight into first-team contention. We really hope he doesn’t suffer another setback and that he can help push Leeds towards promotion. As he’s never played for Leeds he really will be like a new signing, although another setback could spell the end of his Elland Road career before it’s even started.