Has Andy Lonergan put pressure on Leeds teammate Felix Wiedwald with Burnley display?

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Andy Lonergan was one of Leeds United’s heroes as they knocked Burnley out of the Carabao Cup at Turf Moor.

With Andy Lonergan enduring a difficult time at Wolves and seemingly only coming onto Leeds’ radar in the summer when it appeared that Rob Green may be on his way, it appeared that the 33-year-old’s return to Elland Road was simply inspired by the desire to give fellow summer addition Felix Wiedwald some senior cover.

Lonergan is an experienced campaigner in the Championship, but the stopper had not played 30 league games in a single season since his one previous year at Leeds before his first departure in 2012, while Wiedwald arrived having made 58 Bundesliga appearances in the last two seasons.

And the latter seemed to cement himself as the number one by helping the side keep six clean sheets in succession before they were defeated – for the only time this season – by Millwall at the weekend.

Oddly, the German’s best, and certainly most notable, performance to date came at The Den as he recovered from a slightly questionable start to make a string of fine saves which arguably kept the score down as the Lions proved quite relentless.

But while Wiedwald may have felt that his display against Millwall would have confirmed his position in the pecking order, Lonergan certainly gave Thomas Christiansen something to ponder after a brilliant second debut for the club in their midweek Carabao Cup win over Burnley.

The goalkeeper – first signed during Simon Grayson’s final summer in charge at Elland Road six years ago – made several fine stops to keep the Premier League side at bay, and could ultimately only be beaten by a penalty and stunning late free-kick.

And, of course, it was Lonergan’s moment to shine in the shootout as he made the only save to book Leeds’ place in the next round of the competition.

It would certainly be no surprise if Wiedwald returns when the Whites take on Ipswich in the league at the weekend, but the performance of his teammate in midweek confirmed that Wiedwald cannot think that the goalkeeper pecking order at Leeds is set in stone.