Tyler Adams’ injury threw up plenty of questions about Javi Gracia’s Leeds United side as they prepared for the Premier League run-in. The American, who underwent surgery on a hamstring injury last month, has played a pivotal role throughout the course of the campaign at Elland Road with his dogged tenacity and destructive energy regularly providing a base for Leeds to build off.
News of his extended lay-off was consequently met with concern about whether United would be able to cope without him in the middle, and performances at Wolves and Arsenal did little to allay those fears. The pairing of Marc Roca and Weston McKennie struggled for traction at Molineux, despite the Whites’ 4-2 win, and the three-man makeshift midfield predictably never got a look in on Saturday afternoon at the Emirates.
However, it’s fair to say the Whites answered those questions and more on Tuesday night as they saw off Nottingham Forest to move out of the bottom three once more. It was comfortably Leeds’ biggest game of the season so far but Roca and McKennie produced their brightest showings in white, providing the right mix of guile and aggression to ensure Gracia's side dominated the contest for large periods.
