Noel Whelan assesses Felix Wiedwald’s display in Leeds’ loss to Millwall

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Felix Wiedwald endured a mixed afternoon in Leeds United’s defeat to Millwall on Saturday.

Noel Whelan has suggested to BBC Radio Leeds that Felix Wiedwald’s performance in Leeds’ defeat to Millwall was not always the most convincing, but the scoreline could have been worse had it not been for the German.

The Whites may still be at the top of the Championship, but they are now looking to bounce back from their first defeat of the season after losing 1-0 at The Den on a day where Leeds looked second-best all over the park.

The game was arguably one of the first tests that Wiedwald has had since he arrived at Elland Road in the summer, with Leeds keeping clean sheets in the six league games going into the clash.

And while the 27-year-old seemed to make some mistakes – including spilling a shot that led to an offside Steve Morison putting the ball in the net – he also made some impressive saves as Millwall piled the pressure on, leaving Whelan to offer a mixed assessment of the summer signing’s performance.

“It was a mixed bag, wasn’t it? Some of decisions and clearances weren’t the best, giving the ball away in bad areas,” he told BBC Radio Leeds.

“But saying that, he redeemed himself with some great shot saving. It could’ve been a lot worse for Leeds if it wasn’t for him.”

While Wiedwald would have preferred another quiet afternoon that resulted in a Leeds win and another clean sheet, some of the saves that he made will give him some confidence after a very uneventful start to life in Yorkshire.

And that confidence could be extremely important as life in the Championship tends to mean that there could well be several fixtures in the coming months where Leeds are under-par and need their stopper to rescue them.