Leeds starlet Conor Shaughnessy picks ideal moment to demonstrate quality on ball with Ipswich assist

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Conor Shaughnessy played a key role in Leeds United’s first goal against Ipswich Town at the weekend.

On a difficult afternoon against a dogged Ipswich side, Leeds held onto top spot in the Championship with a narrow 3-2 victory that said a lot about Thomas Christiansen’s side.

It was not a great performance, but in previous years those kind of displays would have resulted in a loss for the Whites which suggests that they have now found a winning mentality that will give them a great chance of being in the promotion mix in the Championship this season.

During the performance, there were a few moments of genuine quality from a Leeds perspective, and one of those moments came from young centre-back Conor Shaughnessy as he contributed the assist for the first goal of the game.

Shaughnessy was amongst the defensive line when he played a brilliant through ball onto striker Pierre-Michel Lasogga who drilled his shot into the bottom corner to hand Leeds the lead.

The vision and quality to execute the pass provided an answer to any of his doubters as to why the club extended his contract in the days before the Ipswich game, and arguably came at the perfect time for Shaughnessy.

The clash with Ipswich signalled the first time that Everton loanee Matthew Pennington has been involved in the matchday squad since picking up an injury on the opening day of the season, while Christiansen would later confirm, in comments reported by the Yorkshire Evening Post, that Pontus Jansson was rested for the game after a recent injury.

With Liam Cooper excelling this season, Shaughnessy’s place is certainly under threat, and it will take a brave manager to pick the former Reading trainee when Jansson and Pennington are fully fit.

But that moment of brilliance in the win over Ipswich just gives Shaughnessy’s case to keep his place in the side a little more credibility, and will leave both Pennington and Jansson knowing that if they do get the nod ahead of the Irishman against Cardiff, they have a teammate who is starting to establish himself as a genuine rival for their place in the side just months after seeming to be some way off the first-team.