‘Unbelievable’ Luke Ayling could be crucial for Leeds United even in reduced playing role
Leeds United returned to Championship action perfectly, with an excellent comeback seeing them beat Norwich City late on at Carrow Road.
Two goals from Crysencio Summerville and an own goal from Shane Duffy saw Daniel Farke’s side come back from 2-0 down to win 3-2 on Saturday (21 October) and register their third consecutive Championship win and climb to third in the league.
Having complained about Archie Gray’s workload over the international break, the German opted to start the 17-year-old at right-back at Carrow Road, once again seeing Luke Ayling restricted to the bench. But Farke was quick to praise the importance of the right-back, both off and on the field.
As quoted by Leeds Live (21 October), he said: “Luke showed unbelievable leadership so really, I love my whole group and I am tempted to play them all, but two-thirds of the squad you have to disappoint each game so let’s see who we choose for the next game.”
Given the length of the Championship campaign, the 32-year-old defender will be called into action between now and the end of the season and even if he is currently finding himself pushed out of the side, he can still play a key role in the Whites’ promotion push.
There isn’t a huge amount of promotion experience in the current Leeds United side, given the huge turnover of players over the summer transfer window and Ayling is one of only a couple of players who were promoted to the Championship under the management of Marcelo Bielsa.
For the younger players in the squad to be able to call upon the former Bristol City full-back’s experience in the coming months may well help the likes of Gray and even Wilfried Gnonto navigate the congested and lengthy second-tier campaign.
On the pitch as well, Ayling has shown this season that he can still contribute positively this season. In the Whites’ win over Millwall at The Den, the 32-year-old was exceptional and made several key defensive interventions to ensure that Farke’s squad came away with all three points.
Leeds are back in action on Wednesday (25 October) when they face Stoke City and there is every chance that Farke will pick Ayling for what will be only his second start in the last six games. Even if he is left among the substitutes at the Bet365 Stadium, the Whites only have three days to recover before they face Huddersfield Town.
In other Leeds United news, Farke was quick to heap praise on Archie Gray for his display against Norwich City