Leeds attacker Izzy Brown could be ready to make his debut for the first-team against Stoke on Saturday, according to YEP journalist Phil Hay.
Brown came through an Under-23s game against Crewe on Monday without a hitch after breaking down in a previous game but is yet to play for his new club.
Talking on the latest episode of the Inside Elland Road podcast, YEP journalists Joe Urquhart and Phil Hay were talking about Brown’s return and Hay said he could see him making the squad on Saturday.
“Izzy Brown, two goals for the Under-23s, you might think he would be involved against Stoke,” Hay said.
“I think Rotherham,” Urquhart replied. “The first 45 you could tell he hadn’t played for a while, but the second 45 he looked so sharp. And he got absolutely crunched at the end of the game, but he came through all of that.
“I think he has one more game in the Under-23s. There’s an Under-23s game on Monday and then I think he could play against Rotherham.”
OPINION
We’d be absolutely gobsmacked if Marcelo Bielsa dropped him into the action this weekend against Stoke, but he did look super-sharp on Monday. We’re more with Urquhart though and can see him getting another Under-23s game first. If he comes through that on Monday then we can easily see him on the bench for the Rotherham game, but we still think that the Swansea or QPR games in mid-Feb will be the more likely dates. Brown hasn’t played first-team football for over a year now and it will take him a while to build up match fitness but also to get his stamina to a point where he can play at the level the Championship is played at. Leeds fans will be keeping their fingers crossed that his comeback goes okay. The phrase “like a new signing” is trotted out way too much in football, but seeing as he’s never actually played for Leeds, and going on the quality he’s undoubtedly got, this is one instance where it’s totally justified.