Bielsa suggests 21-year-old Leeds youngster is about to get run of games

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Marcelo Bielsa has told Leeds Live that Pascal Struijk is in line to get plenty of game time in the coming weeks at Leeds United.

Leeds are having to deal with the absence of Kalvin Phillips, who could miss well over a month’s worth of action with a shoulder problem.

And Bielsa says that Struijk is the man he has selected to step in for the injured Leeds man.

“I didn’t have the definitive amount of time that Phillips was going to be out for. I understand that the information is incorrect,” Bielsa said, when told that Phillips would be out for six weeks.

“It’s not defined how long he will be out for. It could be more or it could be less. The one who will play in his place will be Pascal.”

Struijk’s only game time in Leeds’ first-team this season has come at centre-back, but he is more natural in the Phillips’ role.

Struijk has always performed as a defensive midfielder in Leeds’ development squad, but stepping into the starting line-up in such an integral position will be a huge challenge.

Phillips’s passing range and defensive discipline is so key to Leeds that his absence will be a huge miss, and Bielsa is putting a great deal of faith in Struijk by selecting him.

So far the 21-year-old has generally coped well in Leeds’ starting line-up, but he is now facing the biggest test of his fledgling career.

Leeds are next in action on Friday evening, when they take on Aston Villa.