Silver linings were in short supply on Saturday at Brentford, but one long-awaited reunion provided some solace for Leeds United. Luke Ayling’s first-team absence ended at just short of four months and in the space of 21 minutes he put his hand up for an immediate recall.
When the vice-captain went steaming through Gabriel Martinelli by one of the Emirates Stadium corner flags, it was a red-card challenge which summed up a poor season for him. A fourth-bottom outfit is never going to have too many heroes, but having set such lofty standards in previous Marcelo Bielsa campaigns, Ayling was among those with the starkest collapse in form.
Knee surgery and an elongated close season gave the number two a hard reset on 21/22. While the bulk of the squad was flying out to Australia together, Ayling was at Thorp Arch, pushing through with his rehabilitation work alongside fitness coach Ruben Crespo.
