Here are your Leeds United morning headlines on Tuesday, March 21.
Ex-Sunderland star makes 'damage' claim after Joe Gelhardt scoring woes continue
Former Sunderland striker Stephen Elliott has told Black Cats boss Tony Mowbray to drop Leeds United loanee Joe Gelhardt as his struggles in front of goal continue.
The 20-year-old has been put in a tough position since his January loan move began, having been the club's only out-and-out striker since top goalscorer Ross Stewart's season-ending ankle injury.
READ MORE: Leeds United's mini pre-season plan and Junior Firpo's Spain vs Dominican Republic battle
But with just a goal and two assists in his 10 appearances so far, the Whites youngster is yet to gel with his new teammates and if Sunderland want a late push for the playoffs, he must start scoring goals again.
“Gelhardt is a good player and I believe he will go on and have a top career, but it just doesn’t seem to be working for him at the moment," Elliott wrote in the Sunderland Echo.
"I think he has a clever football brain, and he takes up decent positions, but I feel it may be time to give somebody else a run up there.
"He looks like a player whose confidence is shot to pieces in front of goal and continuing to start him may do him more damage than good.
"He is snatching at chances, and it may suit him to come on against a tiring defence late on, rather than have the pressure on him from the off."
Rasmus Kristensen's behind-the-scenes Leeds United progress laid bare after milestone moment
Rasmus Kristensen got his just deserts on Saturday afternoon, according to Javi Gracia, after bagging his first goal for Leeds United in the Whites’ 4-2 win over Wolves. The Denmark international hasn’t always found life easy in the Premier League following his summer move to West Yorkshire from Red Bull Salzburg.
Form and consistency have been difficult to come by and he has made just two league appearances since the turn of the year after becoming rooted behind Luke Ayling in the pecking order at Elland Road. He did feature under Gracia in the FA Cup defeat to Fulham last month, but Saturday’s outing was his first in the top flight for the Spaniard.
However, it didn’t take him long to mark it in the best way possible, arriving at the back post to drill home Leeds’ third just a few seconds after replacing Wilfried Gnonto in the 61st minute at Molineux. He had to show tenacity and determination to outmuscle Jonny and engineer the space to shoot, but he took the goal with the confidence of a striker.
Leeds United's mini pre-season plan and Junior Firpo's Spain vs Dominican Republic battle
A sledgehammer would have been more subtle than Marcelo Neveleff’s recent photograph with Junior Firpo. The Dominican Republic head coach was on a recruitment drive around Europe at the start of the month and the offensive with Firpo could not have been more charming.
Firpo was born in the Caribbean nation’s capital, Santo Domingo, in 1996, but moved to Malaga in Spain when he was six-years-old. The left-back’s career speaks for itself and so too does the Dominican Republic’s standing in the sport.
As a former Real Betis and Barcelona defender currently playing in the world’s foremost domestic competition, Firpo would be on another level or three from anyone else who currently plays for his birth nation. It would be a major coup for Neveleff to talk Firpo back into the arms of his countrymen, but still unrealistic as of last week.
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