Leeds United’s injury headache seems to be increasing with every passing day as now Pontus Jansson has pulled out from the Swedish national team with a foot injury. It is not yet clear how long he is going to be unavailable for or the severity of the injury, but this doesn’t bode well for the Whites management.
Defence is one of the positions where the club is reeling with injuries as Luke Ayling and Gaetano Berardi are already out until January. Versatile midfielder Stuart Dallas has had to fill in the right back spot and if Jansson’s injury is serious, then the Whites could be in for a tough time at the back for the next few games.
However, the club should be positive that this international break can give him enough time to recover. If not then we can see Conor Shaughnessy probably filling in the centre back role.
However, so far it seems like Bielsa isn’t too big a fan of Shaughnessy. He has been sparsely used even after various injuries and last game week Bielsa prefered to keep young Leif Davis in the matchday squad over Shaughnessy. Maybe he is carrying some niggle or injury we don’t know about, but if Leif Davis has been fast-tracked from the youth to the senior team even though Shaughnessy is fit, then that is not good news for the Irishman.
Jansson and Cooper had formed a solid partnership at the back of late. Bielsa prefered Gaetano Berardi in the centre back role when he was fit and available and it seemed like Jansson might have to play second fiddle. However, since then we believe he has done enough to earn Bielsa’s trust, and it remains to be seen who the manager would choose when all his defenders are fit and available.
United have slipped, stuttered, huffed and puffed in the last month and injuries have been a significant reason for it as they haven’t had their best eleven starting for quite a while now. With this latest news, the team would be sweating further over Jansson’s fitness. The club needs to dive in the January transfer window to bring in reinforcements, but Bielsa seems happy with the depth they have currently.
There were reports earlier that United can go after a centre-back in January and rightly so as the Whites definitely lack cover in that position. With the crunch time approaching and nothing to choose between the top sides, the Whites cannot afford to rely on someone who hasn’t had much experience of playing in the Championship. As for Jansson, time for the club faithful to keep their fingers crossed.
