Leeds United youngster Conor Shaughnessy has not played first-team football in almost a month.
It has been almost a month since Leeds loanee Conor Shaughnessy played for Hearts’ first-team, with the defender not featuring in any of the club’s last four games, and not even making the bench for their two most recent fixtures.
It is probably not a huge surprise that Craig Levein has struggled to include the 22-year-old in his side in recent weeks with Christophe Berra and John Souttar arguably one of the best centre-back pairings in the Scottish Premiership.
Nevertheless, his loan spell has taken a slightly concerning turn over the last week, with the Whites-owned ace featuring in the club’s last two reserve games, including the 3-2 defeat to Celtic on Monday.
There is still time left in the season for Shaughnessy to play a part at Tynecastle, but it is perhaps an ominous sign for the youngster ahead of his return to Elland Road that he has slid down the pecking order enough to not get into the last couple of senior matchday squads.
And with the likes of Pascal Struijk and Hugo Diaz really impressing for Leeds’s under-23 side in recent times, it appears that Shaughnessy may have an uphill battle ahead of him trying to get back into the first-team picture in Yorkshire – especially if Leeds are promoted this season.
Shaughnessy’s future will surely not have been decided yet and there is still an opportunity to turn his fortunes around. But with Hearts using him in the reserves more recently, it is seemingly going to take one remarkable comeback for the defender to get a chance to add to his one appearance for Leeds under Marcelo Bielsa.
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