Leeds player claims squad knew 20-year-old was ‘great’ ever since Arsenal display

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Leeds United goalkeeper Illan Meslier made his league debut on Saturday.

Leeds United attacker Tyler Roberts has told the Yorkshire Evening Post that he thinks Illan Meslier showed real confidence against Hull City.

The Whites headed to the KCOM Stadium on Saturday afternoon, and coasted to a 4-0 win as Luke Ayling and Pablo Hernandez struck in the first half.

Roberts added a quickfire brace in the second half to wrap up a thumping win, keeping Leeds five points clear of Fulham in the race for automatic promotion.

Marcelo Bielsa will be delighted with such a convincing win, and especially with the clean sheet given the late change he had to make to his back line.

Leeds goalkeeper Kiko Casilla was hit with an eight-game ban on Friday night having been found guilty of racially abusing Charlton Athletic’s Jonathan Leko.

That meant Meslier had to come in for his first Championship appearance, and just his second appearance in all competitions having made his debut against Arsenal.

Lorient loanee Meslier kept a clean sheet and produced a confident performance, with the Frenchman – who turned 20 today – proving that he can be a long-term successor to Casilla if Leeds turn his loan permanent.

Now, Roberts has praised the ‘great’ Meslier for stepping in after the quick turnaround, and believes he showed ‘amazing’ confidence against Arsenal in January, which he produced again versus Hull.

“Obviously it’s come out late on Friday night so it’s a quick turnaround for the likes of Illan Meslier,” said Roberts. “But this is a big moment for him and it was good for him to get the clean sheet as well. He was confident, he tried things and he’s definitely got the ability so it will be good for him to show it in this run of games.”

“We all knew as soon as he came in that he was a great keeper and he showed that at Arsenal. The confidence that he had on that pitch and that kind of stage for his age as well was amazing. He is trying what the manager wants him to try, he’s not backing out of things, he’s being confident and he’s commanding so I think it’s good for the defenders to have him behind them as well,” he added.