Leeds ace Souleymane Doukara replicating previous performance against Reading would send perfect message out regarding his future

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Leeds United are seemingly sweating over the fitness of star striker Chris Wood following the international break.

Souleymane Doukara scores the second goal for Leeds United from a penalty

When Leeds faced Reading earlier in the campaign, Garry Monk would have known that he would probably need all of his players to be at the races if they were to get the better of a Royals side that were third heading into the contest.

And while it may not have been the prettiest performance from the Whites, it was an extremely impressive one as they largely kept Jaap Stam’s men at bay and scored twice to move themselves up to fifth in the Championship.

One of the players who certainly stepped up on that night was Souleymane Doukara, who was excellent and rounded off the victory with a late penalty that he emphatically dispatched into the corner.

The forward started the game out on the wing, but spent most of the contest leading the line after Chris Wood had to be taken off after just 33 minutes at Elland Road.

Chris Wood scores the first goal for Leeds United

Coincidentally, Wood appears to be facing a race against time to be fit for this weekend with the New Zealander being sent home from international duty due to injury, the Yorkshire Post reports.

While coach Anthony Hudson suggested the problem was not serious (via Yorkshire Post), Monk’s occasionally ruthless selection policy may mean that it would not be a surprise to see the 24-goal talisman left on the bench or rested entirely for the first game back, with Doukara perhaps stepping into the fold.

Leeds United manager Garry Monk

With the 25-year-old’s contract set to expire this summer (via transfermarkt), he is seemingly running out of chances to prove to Monk and the club hierarchy that he deserves a new deal.

But perhaps playing as well as he did against Reading last time and helping Leeds strengthen their grip on a play-off place this Saturday will go a long way to sending the perfect message out regarding his future.