By Pranav Shahaney

22nd Jan, 2022 | 7:00pm

Sky Sports pundit slams Dan James in Leeds United v Newcastle

Andy Walker slammed Leeds United attacker for making a silly challenge against Newcastle in the second half on Saturday afternoon.

The Welshman was closing down Martin Dubravka in the Toons goal and despite the Slovakian reaching the ball and playing it into a teammate, James just ran into him and committed a needless foul.

He received a yellow card for the incident and it was deserving given the context of that passage of play.

Speaking on the Premier League world feed, Walker, a Sky Sports pundit, said, “Yeah he’s made a silly challenge. That was certainly worth a yellow. There’s no reason to do that there from James. He’s deliberately run into him.”

Pointless

James was signed in the wee hours of the summer transfer window with very little fanfare from the Leeds faithful.

Nearly five months into his spell at Leeds and the fans are justified for writing him off that early.

The only reason Marcelo Bielsa signed James was because he believed he was the same player as the one he came close to signing in 2019.

Everything was in place then for the Welshman to join from Swansea, but they pulled the plug and he ended up returning to the Liberty Stadium.

Barring his pace, there is very little he offers to this Leeds side and with everyone fit, he probably will not even be starting.

Hopefully, Marcelo Bielsa doesn’t start him in the next game even if Patrick Bamford is injured.

Joe Gelhardt certainly offers much more in the final third than James.

In other Leeds United news, Phil Hay issues major January update amid recent development that would excite the Elland Road faithful.