Courageous as it was, Cody Drameh’s decision to stay at Leeds United and fight for minutes under Jesse Marsch has not yielded the appearances he wanted. The 20-year-old backed himself to compete with Rasmus Kristensen and Luke Ayling, but with both of them fit and firing, the former Fulham man has barely made the bench, let alone the pitch.
There was one moment of light for Drameh at Brentford, where an injured Kristensen and rusty Ayling opened the door for the youngster. While his 69 minutes were solid, Ayling would outshine him from the bench and after the enforced break Kristensen would be fit to return.
There have been regular outings in Premier League 2 with the under-21s, but in similar circumstances 12 months ago, Drameh sought a January move away. There was arguably even more of a pathway for Drameh last season, so when the transfer window opens again, he may be tempted to look for opportunities further afield.
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In the immediate future, Drameh must get himself fit, however. The right-back was conspicuous by his absence from the young team which travelled to Molineux in the EFL Cup last week.
While he was unlikely to start ahead of Ayling, he would have been a shoo-in on the bench despite playing 90 minutes with the under-21s two days earlier. Marsch was pushed on Drameh’s absence in his pre-Tottenham Hotspur press conference last week.
“The plan was to have him in the squad and he said he wasn't physically ready,” said Marsch. “He said he felt he was injured so then we didn't put him in the squad.”
Youngsters, like Leo Hjelde and Archie Gray, have generally been included in Marsch’s injury updates at the start of his media briefings, but Drameh was not mentioned last Friday. The head coach did not specify the problem either, instead trusting in Drameh’s self-diagnosis.
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