Sam Allardyce believes that long-serving midfielder Adam Forshaw will be 'tremendously important' to any hopes that Leeds United have of avoiding relegation after he returned to the starting line-up for the 2-1 defeat by Manchester City.
Forshaw had not started a Premier League match since the 0-0 draw against Newcastle United on New Year's Eve but played 80 minutes at the Etihad Stadium during Allardyce's first match in charge of the Whites.
While Ilkay Gundogan's impressive first-half brace was enough for Pep Guardiola's men to see off United, there were positive elements of performance to encourage the visiting fans. Rodrigo's sharp finish halved the defect with five minutes to play.
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More importantly though, defensive errors that had previously plagued 'Big Sam's' predecessors, Marcelo Bielsa, Jesse March and Javi Gracia, were few and far between, even if self-confessed Leeds fan Erling Haaland had forgotten his shooting boots.
A major part of the much-improved defensive performance was the midfield work of Marc Roca, Weston McKennie and Forshaw, with Allardyce explaining that the latter is a player that had been highlighted to him by coaching staff at Thorp Arch.
"[Forshaw will be] Tremendously important because it's been pointed out to me by coaches, by a lot of the staff at the football club that the midfield has been slightly weak in terms of particularly its out-of-possession work," Allardyce explained.
"I think he's got a lot of experience and know-how and of course, I played differently from previous managers by playing three in there to support that, which I think helps him."
That being said, however, the 68-year-old suggested that changes could be made when Newcastle visit Elland Road next weekend.
Allardyce added: "We will assess everybody on Monday, assess everybody's performance and see who we feel is going to go into the Newcastle game. So there may be a few changes next week.
"I put all five subs on as well, which was you could say a bit risky, but I think that the amount of energy that they gave and the times you have to run around against Manchester City without the ball, players tire much quicker with that so keeping fresh legs on and getting fresh legs on helped the team but didn't help the result."
