Eunan O’Kane has been full of praise for Leeds United teammate Pawel Cibicki.
Cibicki was one of a large number of signings at Elland Road during the summer, but he quickly seemed to become Leeds’ forgotten man as December arrived without the 23-year-old making a single league appearance for his new club.
Injury to Caleb Ekuban presented the former Malmo man with the chance to feature in the league for the first time during the Whites’ clash with Queens Park Rangers earlier in the month, and he took full advantage of the opportunity, providing assists in his first two league outings.
And after his third league appearance – the 2-1 Boxing Day win over Burton Albion – Cibicki’s attitude and performances received a huge amount of praise from Eunan O’Kane, who has also had to bide his time in recent weeks with Ronaldo Vieira and Kalvin Phillips often keeping him out of the side.
“But he’s been tremendous – the attitude that he has shown in training, in that period of time. Obviously [he’s been] upset that he wasn’t playing which is fair enough – any player would be – but I think the lesson is to be ready for when your chance comes, because credit to him, he’s been able to take it.”
Cibicki’s emergence is arguably a sign that Leeds boast the kind of depth this year that they perhaps did not have last season. Leeds have now won their last four in the league, and still have players such as Samuel Saiz and Pierre-Michel Lasogga still to come back into the starting lineup.
The pair may well be hoping that they can help Leeds end 2017 on a high as they face Birmingham City in their final game of the year on Saturday.
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