Phil Hay answers when asked if Kiko Casilla will return to Leeds XI when ban is over next week
Leeds United goalkeeper Kiko Casilla is suspended for just one more match and can return to Marcelo Bielsa’s squad next week.
Casilla was hit with an eight-match ban earlier this year for racially abusing Jonathan Leko back in September and Illan Meslier has since stepped up to replace the veteran Spaniard.
However, Meslier’s form has been relatively good with the 20-year-old keeping four clean sheets in seven Championship appearances since Casilla was banned.
The Athletic journalist Phil Hay has been asked whether he sees Casilla coming back into the starting line-up against Barnsley and for the rest of the games this season but he is not too sure.
“Last I asked he was training but I’m not sure I see Bielsa dropping Meslier. Not if the form stays as it is. It wouldn’t be like Bielsa,” Hay wrote on The Athletic website on Thursday.
There is more than one reason why Casilla should not play any part in the final three matches of the season.
Marcelo Bielsa does not like making too many changes to his starting line-up and as Mesleir has been in goals for the last six matches, you can expect it to stay that way because a big, unforced change to a key position can disrupt momentum.
Secondly, Meslier has done really well since coming in and does not deserve to lose his spot in the side.
If he did, would the on-loan Frenchman really want to join the Whites permanently when he sees someone who has had a dodgy season, marred by a ban for racism, replace him?
There is only one reason why Bielsa would replace Meslier and that is because Casilla is more experienced.
That’s the only reason we can logically think of and because that’s the only reason, we do not envisage seeing the ex-Real Madrid shot-stopper again this term.
In other Leeds United news, Adrian Durham was staggered by one incident in Leeds’ win against Stoke.