Leeds United an injuries go hand in hand this season. Marcelo Bielsa has confirmed his latest, well one of them today in Barry Douglas. He also told the media that Kalvin Phillips has picked up and injury and Patrick Bamford doesn’t have a timescale on his most recent setback.
It seems the whole world is against Leeds United at times and certainly on the injury front this season. This will be the second spell Barry Douglas will be out and that means just Luke Ayling and Pontus Jansson are fit, first-team defenders. Douglas hasn’t been in great form recently and tweeted that he held his hands up and needed to be better after the Nottingham Forest game. The news came as a surprise today, of sorts anyway. It’s no surprise a couple more are injured, but Douglas seemed fine after the Forest game.
Bielsa: "Cooper will play with the 23s on Monday, Davis will play (against QPR) because Douglas is injured and it's a player who is going to be missing for a while, it's a muscular injury." #lufc
— Lee Sobot (@LeeSobotYEP) January 4, 2019
It seems like Douglas is set for some time on the sidelines which is a huge blow despite his form. Leif Davis will be the immediate left-back to come into the side, the youngster is set to start on Sunday at Queens Park Rangers in the FA Cup third round after making his debut against Aston Villa last month. Davis, a summer recruit from Morecambe wasn’t expected to be thrust into first-team action this season but needs must, and the needs are demanding to say the least this season.
The alternative options are Jamie Shackleton at right-back and Luke Ayling at left, Gaetano Berardi or even Liam Cooper when they return from injury and of course prospect Tom Pearce. Pearce is a highly thought of full-back at Leeds United and turned down Premier League interest in the summer to sign a new deal with the club. Having him back soon would be a very timely boost.