Stuart Dallas was subbed off after just nine minutes against in Leeds United’s last Premier League game due to injury.
It means that he faces a fight to feature against fierce rivals Manchester United at the weekend, which had left former Whites player and Sky Sports pundit Paul Robinson bemoaning their failure to bring in reinforcements last month.
Leeds fans cried for Bielsa to break the bank in January and sign players, after several injuries have seen them sit just six points above the drop zone as we enter the critical stages of the campaign.
Paul Robinson told MOT Leeds News: “It’s a massive blow – a huge blow. They haven’t got many leaders on the field but he’s one of them.
“He’s outstanding whenever he plays and he’s going to be a massive miss. He’s another name on the list – Bamford, Cooper, Phillips, Firpo and now Dallas – they’re huge players. And once again it makes you scratch your head in disbelief as to why they didn’t bring anyone through the door in January.”
With key players such as Liam Cooper, Kalvin Phillips and Patrick Bamford missing large chunks of the season due to injury this term, Leeds have struggled to find any form, and now another first-team regular has been sidelined.
TIF Thoughts on Paul Robinson’s claims that Leeds should have signed someone in January…
Leeds have struggled this season due to injury woes, meaning players like Robin Koch have had to play in unfamiliar positions.
The core of Leeds in recent seasons has been Cooper, Phillips and Bamford running through the spine of their side. But with these three main men missing due to injury, you would have thought the Whites would bring in a handful of players to act as replacements.
Although Leeds did try on two occasions to sign highly rated American midfielder Brenden Aaronson from Salzburg, they came up short and were not willing to spend enough money in order to get him through the door at Elland Road.
With Dallas’ recent injury, it is almost comical at how few first-team players Marcelo Bielsa has at his disposal – an issue that would have been resolved if they decided to spend a bit of money in January.