Jermaine Beckford has claimed that Raphinha was ‘very annoyed’ by Romain Saiss’s challenge on him during Leeds United’s 1-1 draw against Wolves on Saturday afternoon, as he told BBC’s Final Score.
The BBC pundit stated that it’s ‘terrible news’ for Leeds because one of their star men limped off with what looked like a worrying ankle injury.
Raphinha returned to Leeds’ starting XI yesterday, after missing last week’s defeat to Southampton because he returned late from international duty.
Leeds have already shown, during the early stages of the season, how much they suffer without their three key men Raphinha, Patrick Bamford and Kalvin Phillips.
Well, both of them returned at Elland Road, one from the bench, in what was a boost to Marcelo Bielsa and their fans.
Ex-Leeds striker Beckford slammed Saiss’s ‘naughty’ challenge and expressed his worry for Raphinha.
“It’s terrible news,” said Beckford. “It’s absolutely terrible news. He picked the ball up on the right wing Raphinha, he took a lovely touch to get past Saiss.
“What has happened is that he has just caught him with a naughty challenge. You see Raphinha’s ankle go underneath him, it wasn’t very nice.
“He is frustrated and very annoyed by it. It’s a huge loss.”
This is where Leeds having a thin squad hits them hard because if Raphinha is out for a while, or even a small period of time, then they will suffer.
But that’s the way Bielsa roles and no-one will stop him from going by his methods and his methods only.
Whilst it may be frustrating for some, it’s those very same methods that have helped Leeds return back to the promised land and compete with the best of the best in England’s top-flight once more.
Nonetheless, with Raphinha, the only thing Leeds fans can do is hope and pray that it’s nothing too serious.
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