Adam Forshaw pushing for first Leeds start this season

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Adam Forshaw performed well on a difficult afternoon for Leeds United at the weekend.

One of the biggest blows that Paul Heckingbottom had to deal with during his time as Leeds boss was the injury problem that restricted Adam Forshaw to just one start from mid-March until the end of the season.

The midfielder often looked a rare class act during a second-half of the campaign that saw Leeds’ play-off hopes fall away in dramatic fashion, and that is why it appeared to be a massive blow for Marcelo Bielsa when he picked up another injury in pre-season.

But with Kalvin Phillips and Mateusz Klich performing extremely well in the middle of the park in the opening weeks of the season, it appeared for a while that the Whites were not missing Forshaw too much. But as Leeds’ results have tailed off slightly in recent times, Forshaw’s class has become easier to notice as he works his way back into contention.

Leeds remain top of the Championship, but they have won just two of their previous seven games and some questions are now starting to be asked.

Against Birmingham at the weekend, Leeds looked well short of their best and struggled to break down a Blues side that had not won in the league all season. But they appeared to have more luck after Forshaw replaced Klich was just under half an hour to go.

Forshaw’s task was probably slightly easier than Klich’s had been with Birmingham probably looking to defend their lead with the minutes fading away, but his display still deserved a lot of praise.

He looked confident and composed on the ball, and made some very nice passes as Leeds looked to get their act together. There were mistakes and a late booking, but he arguably put plenty of pressure on Phillips or Klich with his performance.

And with Leeds looking to put the defeat behind them this Friday, making that change and giving Forshaw that opportunity to start may not be a terrible idea at all as he appears to be raring to go after biding his time in recent weeks.