Leeds United were without seven first-teamers on Saturday as they took on Wolverhampton Wanderers at Elland Road.
Fortunately for the Whites, only Stuart Dallas is expected to be out for longer than a few more weeks. Liam Cooper, Adam Forshaw, Luke Ayling, Junior Firpo and Luis Sinisterra are all very much on the comeback trail and could return before the end of the month, while Dan James is now eligible for action this weekend after completing his Premier League suspension.
All seven of the above names would probably have been involved in some capacity against Wolves if they were available and in their absence Jesse Marsch was forced to name a very young nine-man bench. Mateusz Klich, who changed the game when he stepped onto the field in the second half, was the only player over the age of 21, while Darko Gyabi and Archie Gray have never featured for the first-team in a competitive fixture.
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As such, the make up of the bench was certainly a talking point leading into the Whites 2-1 win over Bruno Lage’s side. A glass half full thinker would point out how encouraging it is to see so many homegrown and young talents pushing their way into the first-team picture and they would be correct to do so.
Marsch is more than willing to hand out chances to the club’s brightest and most promising talents, and the Whites have high hopes for every one of those youngsters named on Saturday. The likes of Joe Gelhardt, Sam Greenwood and Crysensio Summerville will be involved heavily this season, while Cody Drameh also has his sights set on earning a regular spot under the American head coach after impressing last season whilst on loan with Cardiff City.
For the youngest involved, Leo Hjelde, Gyabi and Gray, the experience of being on a Premier League bench will certainly go a long way in their development as they continue to learn from and rub shoulders with the club’s most senior faces. However, the fact that Gyabi and Gray were named at all provides a glimpse into how stretched the senior squad is at present.
The pair both featured for more than 60 minutes on Friday night for the under-21s against Derby County at Pride Park and were unlikely to step off the bench against Wolves for that reason. Leeds know all about the potential pitfalls of having a slender squad and they have worked hard to bolster numbers over the off-season with five new first-teamers.
However, the lack of experienced depth available on Saturday goes to show that one or two more signings this summer certainly would not go amiss. As mentioned above, those injured players are due to return sooner rather than later and Marsch’s squad is expected to take on a more senior feel in the coming weeks.
Injuries are unfortunately part and parcel of the game, though, and reinforcements arriving at Elland Road would help to soften the blow of losing more star names to the treatment room in the future. Joel Robles looks set to arrive this week to bolster the club’s goalkeeping ranks, something that many felt was needed, while no secret has been made about the club’s desire to add a forward and potentially a left-back this summer.
Of course, Leeds won’t jump into the market to sign just anyone and doing so would fly in the face of the considered and astute way Victor Orta recruits. But, they’ll have their targets in mind and landing at least one before the September 1 deadline certainly looks like it could be important at this stage.
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