Mark Smith

Tue 4 February 2020 6:15, UK

By Mark Smith at Hillsborough

There were many positives to take from Leeds United under-23s 2-2 draw with Sheffield Wednesday on Monday afternoon.

In typical Whites fashion, a number of first-team players managed to get another 45 minutes under their belt in south Yorkshire.

Jean-Kevin Augustin and Ian Poveda made their ‘debuts’ for the club, with the Frenchman giving us all an injury concern – something our update from Carlos Corberan cleared up.

Outside of the main talking points, a major positive was the second-half cameo of Jamie Shackleton at Hillsborough.

The 20-year-old has struggled with injuries this season, keeping him out for the majority of the campaign – only making eight appearances, four of those starts.

He came on in the middle of the park on Monday and gave his side real impetus going forward. Shackleton also was strong to stop the counter-attacking threat of the Owls. That has been a real problem in the first-team in the past couple of months.

Now that Shackleton has a month of under-23s action under his belt, he is more than ready to start for Marcelo Bielsa, and that will give him a dilemma ahead of the trip to Nottingham Forest on Saturday.

Kalvin Phillips has one game left on his three-match suspension, and Stuart Dallas can no longer be utilised in that role after another shocker against Wigan.

The 28-year-old has been superb when deployed as a full-back, but he has looked clueless in the middle of the park – something Shackleton can resolve.

Playing in defensive midfield, he only completed one tackle and two interceptions in the defeat against the Latics. That is compared to Phillips who completed four tackles alone in his last outing [WhoScored].

Shackleton would bring much-needed urgency into the midfield, and his display on Monday has certainly given Bielsa something to think about before the trip to Forest.

In other Leeds United news, we believe the JKA performance v Sheff Weds means that this Whites ace will start against Forest