Crysencio Summerville may have only had a small amount of time on the field last time out at Wolverhampton Wanderers, but he still managed to make a big contribution. The winger entered the fray in the 81st minute at Molineux when Javi Gracia’s Leeds United were under the pump and struggling to hold onto the convincing lead they had built up.
It would have been a tough game for any player to step into, but the 21-year-old held his own and managed to carve out the moment that saw Leeds home and dry in the West Midlands. Winning the ball off Adama Traore on the left flank, Summerville followed a quick turn with an inch perfect pass through to the onrushing Rodrigo, who kept his cool to dink home Leeds’ fourth.
That moment helped to give Javi Gracia his second win at the United helm, but it also served to underline the head coach’s belief that Summerville, who spent time with the Netherlands Under-21 squad earlier this month, will be a key player for the Whites in the run-in. The Dutchman’s performances are all the more important now, too, following the news that Wilfried Gnonto sustained an injury on international duty that will rule him out of Saturday’s game at the very least.
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Gnonto suffered a sprained ankle while representing Italy against Malta on Sunday night and at present a return date is unknown. As such, Summerville will be expected to step up, take on more responsibility and play a key role in his absence
The same can be said for Luis Sinisterra, who Gracia admits isn't quite feeling 100 per cent just yet after his recent return from injury, Patrick Bamford, Rodrigo, Jack Harrison and the rest of Leeds’ attacking contingent who will be involved in the coming weeks.
“I think Crysencio from my arrival in all the games he played he's shown a good level,” Gracia said when asked about the youngster in his pre-match press conference this week. “Sometimes he’s played from the beginning, in other games he’s made the difference in the minutes he played.
“In the first game he played only a few minutes but he had a clear chance to score the second one and against Wolves he made the pass for Rodrigo to score the last goal. Important things for the team and with the quality he has I am sure he is going to help the team.
“Not only Crysencio but Luis as well, Rodrigo, Patrick, all the players playing up front, I think all of them will help us.”
That starts this week at league leaders Arsenal, where Summerville can now be considered a leading candidate to start on the flank for the Whites.
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