Noel Whelan admits frustration with Leeds loanee Lewis Baker

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Lewis Baker endured a difficult afternoon as Leeds United were knocked out of the FA Cup.

Noel Whelan has told BBC Radio Leeds that he gets frustrated with Lewis Baker because he wants to see the Leeds loanee be more forward-thinking following his display in the Whites’ FA Cup third round defeat.

Marcelo Bielsa’s side now only have the Championship promotion race to concentrate on after QPR won 2-1 at Loftus Road on Sunday. It is certainly not a defeat that is going to go down alongside the embarrassments of Sutton and Newport for the Whites, but it was still a disappointing day.

Baker was given another chance to impress. The midfielder has struggled to win over his doubters during his loan spell at Elland Road, but it appeared that he may have found the turning point he needed as his ambitious free-kick led to Aapo Halme equalising during the first-half.

But it was not to be Baker’s day as Leeds were knocked out of the competition. And after the full-time whistle, Whelan insisted that he wanted to see Baker be a little more aggressive and drive the team forward when he got the ball.

“First thought for me would be: can I play forward? If you can’t, then you go sideways. If you can’t go sideways, then you go backwards and keep the ball. And you look for another space to maybe mount that attack,” he told BBC Radio as he explained why he was growing impatient with the Chelsea ace.

“But there’s been opportunities today where he’s turned sideways. Get your body position into a place where you can put the ball in front of you, you can step forward, commit a defender, lay the ball off, maybe get a one-two, play the ball out wide, get yourself into an attacking position inside the box.

“These little things frustrate me. I just want him to be a bit more forward-thinking. It’s great keeping the ball, but when there’s an opportunity to hurt a team with a forward pass, take it.”

Given Bielsa’s loyalty to his players, it would be a surprise if Baker was not given more chances to turn his situation around before his loan spell ends.

But there can surely be no doubt that the midfielder – who earns £20,000-a-week at Chelsea, according to Spotrac – has not taken full advantage of a superb opportunity, especially with Mateusz Klich’s form dipping slightly and Adam Forshaw coming in for criticism lately.