Phil Hay: Shackleton ruled out of Leeds clash v Aston Villa
There was no mention of Leeds United midfielder Jamie Shackleton in Marcelo Bielsa’s pre-match press conference on Thursday but Phil Hay has claimed he is also out of the Villa game.
Bielsa confirmed that Rodrigo and Kalvin Phillips would be missing and that Mateusz Klich has a chance of playing.
After the presser, one Leeds fan asked if Shackleton would be back “or we go into the game with one midfielder”.
Stretched in the middle
This is a blow and it means that Leeds go into the game with a selection issue in the holding midfield position.
If Klich fails his late fitness test it gets even worse.
If Klich is out then we think Diego Llorente will have to fill in the holding midfield role, with Stuart Dallas playing in the Klich position.
Bielsa also said that Leeds were wary of rushing Phillips back because of the risk of losing him for an extended period.
After an initial prognosis that said he might not miss any games, that’s a bit worrying.
Llorente can fill in there but it’s a big ask for a player who has only just come back from injury himself.
That position is a bruising one and the last thing we need is to lose Llorente again.
That might be the only option on Saturday, though.
In other Leeds United news, ‘It’s changed’ – Klich claims a new player is currently monstering Leeds training sessions