Luis Sinisterra may have to wait for his first Premier League start after an impressive full debut in Leeds’ Carabao Cup win against Barnsley.
That is the verdict of Leeds assistant head coach Rene Maric after Sinisterra scored and had a hand in two other goals in his first competitive start for the club in their 3-1 second-round victory.
Maric said: “Obviously we have other players at our disposal too, who played really well in the last games, so he’s for sure in the competition.
“But we have a really good squad, a really good roster in terms of the depth and it will be hard for him if the others keep it up like they have so far.”
Sinisterra curled a brilliant opening goal into the top corner and won a first-half penalty, which was converted by Mateusz Klich to put Leeds 2-0 up.
The Colombia winger’s deflected cross in the second half set up Klich for Leeds’ third after Barnsley skipper Mads Andersen had reduced the deficit.
“He’s a great player, he’s a great guy, so we’re really happy he was able to return after injury,” Maric said.
“The way he trains, the way he behaves – he’s a great presence in the locker room. There’s a lot to come from him, but he still has to continue working.”
Barnsley, relegated to Sky Bet League One last season, made a real fight of it after a much-changed Leeds side – head coach Jesse Marsch made nine changes – threatened to blow them away.
Reds midfielder Callum Styles saw his first-half penalty hit a post and felt he should have had another spot-kick in the second period.
Maric added: “The performance in general was good, but we could have been better. We were not as consistent over 90 minutes as we wanted to be.
“It was a good performance, but we can improve on certain things.”
Barnsley have won two and lost three of their League One games under new boss Michael Duff, who was appointed following relegation.
Duff said: “Disappointed with the defeat, we’re never happy losing. We started the game really well and after going 2-0 down I thought the response was excellent.
“I think ultimately we’ve been undone by a couple of bits of Premier League quality and a couple of the referee’s decisions haven’t gone our way as well.
“Their first goal was brilliant, whipped into the top corner, and the third goal was an excellent finish as well.”
