Joe Gelhardt looks set to feature for Leeds United Under-21s on Tuesday night after dropping out of Jesse Marsch’s matchday squad on Sunday. Gelhardt wasn’t involved at all over the weekend as the Whites, who were reduced to 10 men following the dismissal of Luis Sinisterra, held firm to claim a hard fought point against Aston Villa.
The youngster was at Elland Road, though, and could be seen working with the club's fitness coach on the pitch prior to kick off. His outing appeared to be a late fitness test as he completed a small amount of running drills before heading back down the tunnel.
However, Marsch has revealed there was no concern regarding Gelhardt, with his appearance on the pitch simply an effort to keep him sharp after dropping out of the starting XI and being overlooked for a bench spot. Wilfried Gnonto and Patrick Bamford were the attackers chosen to be substitutes on Sunday, while Rodrigo returned to the side after overcoming a shoulder injury.
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The head coach moved to explain his decision after the game, suggesting Gnonto’s arrival on transfer deadline day has given the 20-year-old stiff competition for minutes within the senior set-up. As such, it seems Gelhardt may have to make do with an appearance in Michael Skubala’s youth side this week as the U21s head to Tranmere Rovers in the Papa John’s Trophy.
“No, no, he's perfectly healthy,” Marsch said when asked whether Gelhardt had undergone a late fitness test. “We decided not to have him in the squad and so we wanted to get him a little fitness before, knowing that he wasn't in the squad.
“It wasn't a fitness test. It was giving him a little bit of running just to just to boost his fitness levels.”
Marsch added: “I can tell you this, it's not based on performance because I think he's playing well. But we think that we have a lot of guys performing well right now.
“So I guess, in that sense that maybe you could say it's a pecking order but I don't look at it that way. I look at it as I really like Joffy, his mentality is great.
“Maybe we'll use him or a few guys on Tuesday in the Papa John's tournament to try to make sure that we're keeping rhythm and fitness and everything. I think you can see that a lot of our players need some match time.
“Please don't take it as a negative on Joffy, I believe in him and I really like him and we're going to keep pushing him.”
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