Rodrigo drops hint that he is fit to play West Ham
Rodrigo has been injured for several weeks but the Spaniard has suggested he could make his Leeds United return against West Ham.
The midfielder has missed six games since being forced off against Leicester City in January.
He made a return to action for the under 23s against Wolves on Friday and scored both goals in the game.
After the game, he took to Instagram to express his joy at getting some minutes under his belt and strongly hinted he would return to action against the Hammers on Monday, underscoring his comments with an exclamation mark.
He said, “Great feeling getting some minutes with the U-23s today. Totally focussed on Monday against West Ham!”
We’ve missed him
The Whites have been inconsistent of late and a big part of that is due to our injury-hit squad.
We finally have centre-backs who are available to play but now our midfield is down to bare bones.
Along with Rodrigo, Kalvin Phillips and Jamie Shackleton have been sidelined recently.
We have not looked the same in their absence.
Phillips is a massive miss but Rodrigo’s absence has caused its own problems as we lack another creative player like him, with Pablo Hernandez not in favour.
The 30-year-old provides tremendous energy and is key to the press, but he also has so much quality on the ball.
A return of 1.3 key passes [WhoScored] shows he can make a difference in the attacking final third, often unlocking defences to create chances for the likes of Raphinha and Patrick Bamford.
He adds an attacking threat with his late darts into the box, too, scoring three league goals from 12 starts.
His return should bring a little more familiarity to the side as he can rekindle his partnership with Mateusz Klich.
Winning the midfield battle will be crucial on Monday as Declan Rice and Thomas Soucek are in great form for West Ham currently.
In other Leeds United news, a Championship striker has revealed that he would not like to play for Marcelo Bielsa.