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Leeds United’s Thomas Christiansen singles out Matthew Pennington for praise

Everton's English defender Matthew Pennington celebrates after scoring their first goal during the English Premier League football match between Li...
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Matthew Pennington starred for Leeds United despite the defeat on Saturday.

Everton's English defender Matthew Pennington celebrates after scoring their first goal during the English Premier League football match between Liverpool and Everton at Anfield in...

Speaking to LUTV, Thomas Christiansen has singled out fit-again Leeds United defender Matthew Pennington for praise.

The on-loan Everton centre-back made his return for Leeds in Saturday’s 4-3 defeat by Millwall at Elland Road – his first game since Boxing Day due to injury.

Pennington replaced midfielder Ronaldo Vieira on 43 minutes and moved into central defence to plug the gap left by captain Liam Cooper following his red card minutes before.

Everton player Matthew Pennington in action during the Barclays Premier League match between Sunderland and Everton at the Stadium of Light on May 11, 2016 in Sunderland, England.

And the 23-year-old posted a superb second-half performance which reminded Leeds fans of his talents and he’s the obvious choice to now replace the suspended Cooper who, along with a number of other United players, will miss the next two weeks due to bans.

But Christiansen feels that Pennington’s performance is indicative of the type of depth that he has within the squad, remarking that the young defender was so good that nobody would have spotted a hint of rust after being missing for a month.

Matthew Pennington of Everton celebrates scoring his sides first goal during the Premier League match between Liverpool and Everton at Anfield on April 1, 2017 in Liverpool, England.

When it was put to Christiansen that his Leeds squad might be tested over the next fortnight due to suspensions, he told LUTV: “We have Pennington who did very well when he came in.

“We couldn’t tell that he hadn’t played for a long time and that he was coming off the back of an injury.

“He was good in defence, good in attack – we saw him many times in the opposition’s half – so we have good players.”