By Kealan Hughes

28th Feb, 2021 | 7:30pm

Diego Llorente sends Twitter message to Leeds fans after Villa defeat

Leeds United continued their inconsistent run of form by losing to Aston Villa on Saturday, and Diego Llorente seems a little more disappointed than most.

The Spaniard frequently posts message to fans on social media and took time out to express his sadness at the defeat.

That reaction is understandable but the defender should at least be happy with getting through another 90 minutes unscathed.

He performed very well once again, just as he did on Tuesday against Southampton – he is finally beginning to prove why Victor Orta forked out £18million for him last summer.

In a Twitter post Llorente wrote, “Sad for the result. Great effort from the team that worked until the end but was not rewarded. It’s time to keep working and keep improving.”

Making a difference

It is good to see Llorente remain optimistic and determined to improve despite feeling sadness at the lost.

We were not good enough against Aston Villa and lacked our usual creative spark.

The biggest reason for that was our sluggish movement on and off the ball.

Kalvin Phillips’ absence was keenly felt in midfield and Marcelo Bielsa has to come up with a way of playing without the England international.

The Argentine is stubborn with his formation but deploying a back three of Llorente, Liam Cooper and Pascal Struijk would be an interesting set-up.

We trust him to improve the side ahead of our trip to West Ham and with Llorente at the back we are confident of keeping things tight.

Moreover, we are excited by the prospect of our two summer signings finally pairing up in defence.

Early assessment of Robin Koch’s injury suggested he could be back in early March, so hopefully it will not be long until he partners Llorente.

In other Leeds United news, Adam Pope defends Leeds ‘Scapegoat’ after loss v Aston Villa.