Leeds United injury issue shines spotlight on Luke Ayling exit amid Middlesbrough revival
Luke Ayling’s recent output at Middlesbrough might be making Daniel Farke wish he hadn’t given the green light to his Leeds United exit in January.
Opta’s Jonny Cooper revealed on Twitter on 1 April, heading into the Whites’ 3-1 victory over Hull City, that the former favourite and now Boro loanee was tied for the Championship lead in assists with Elland Road star man Georginio Rutter since the start of March.
Farke is starting to see injury worries creep into his squad during the crucial run-in that could barely be tighter at the top, with automatic promotion still anything but guaranteed.
Since winning nine league games in succession from the start of 2024 to surge back into the title race Leeds United have dropped points in two of the past six outings, with draws against Huddersfield (2 March) and Watford (29 March) leaving them second to Ipswich by a point following the Hull win, with Leicester a point further back but with a game in hand.
Farke opted to replace the injured Ilia Gruev in midfield for the 2-2 draw at Vicarage Road by shifting star man Ethan Ampadu out of the back line, but club captain Liam Cooper struggled in his stead as two crucial points went begging.
For the subsequent win at home on 1 April the German chose to put Archie Gray in his favoured midfield role instead, shifting Sam Byram over to right-back, and was rewarded by a goal from the full-back and a key win.
He hadn’t been able to do so for the previous game due to an additional fitness concern on Junior Firpo necessitating Byram start on the left, with January loan signing Connor Roberts also hurt during the international break.
Leeds United without Connor Roberts due to Wales injury
That Ayling has delivered four assists to match the outstanding Rutter since 1 March is a reminder that the former Leeds United veteran left at a time when the Whites were already looking relatively thin at the full-back spots.
It is a true that Farke had all but moved on from the 32-year-old prior to his exit, having not given him a minute in the Championship for the previous 11 games, so it was arguably admirable for him to sanction Ayling’s exit when the defender asked to be allowed to take up the opportunity for games at the Riverside Stadium.
But so soon after Djed Spence’s loan was ended early it risked leaving the Whites short down the line if events took an unfortunate turn.
With Leeds coming out of the international break with concerns around Gruev, Roberts and Firpo, as well as the likes of Pascal Struijk, who will now miss the whole second half of the season after surgery, and Stuart Dallas, who is hoping to make it back after two years out, it might have been Ayling’s time to shine.
He appears to be doing so for Boro at present, having laid on four goals in four separate wins during an unbeaten six-game run.
It is difficult to criticise Farke too much when he clearly didn’t believe Ayling was right for his side any longer, and therefore in theory he may not have even turned to him now, but at this level the ex-Whites leader is showing he still has something left and if the two points dropped against Watford end up leaving the team in the play-offs the manager might just wonder if he closed the door too soon.
And when top side Ipswich keep picking up results with another former Elland Road full-back Leif Davis key (19 league assists) it could heighten the sense of what might have been in West Yorkshire if the final weeks of the season don’t go as hoped.
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