Noel Whelan names Leeds player who showed plenty of improvement in cup win

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Leeds United booked their place in the next round of the Carabao Cup after beating Port Vale at Elland Road.

Noel Whelan has told BBC Radio Leeds that he thought that Gianni Alioski showed much more promising signs in Leeds’ win over Port Vale than he had done in their opening day victory over Bolton.

Alioski was one of the Whites’ debutants for their curtain-raising clash at the Macron Stadium. But despite Thomas Christiansen’s men coming away with the three points as they won 3-2, Alioski struggled to make a major impact – though he also appeared to do little wrong during the game.

But he undoubtedly made a much better impact after coming on during the second-half of their Carabao Cup win over Michael Brown’s men at Elland Road, creating several opportunities and bagging the assist for the fourth and final goal on the night.

And Whelan has suggested that he had seen a marked improvement from the summer signing during the cup win, and expressed his hope that his most recent display is a sign of things to come.

“Different to the other day. He kept his game nice and simple against Bolton, but here, [we saw] what we want from and what we’ve seen from him in the clips is the way he runs at defenders, the way he drives at them,” he told BBC Radio Leeds.

“I think he was more successful tonight, where he was driving, coming in on his left foot so he can try and hit those top corners, get these shots off quicker, linking up with players.

“But he was enjoying his evening tonight, I don’t think he wanted the whistle to go.”

The challenge now facing the Macedonia international is to put in that kind of lively performance when the Whites are taking on a Championship rival, and perhaps doing it from the start of the game.

Given his record at Lugano last season, it would surely be much better for Leeds if they are able to get him firing from the start of games rather than using him as an impact substitute.

But Christiansen may be hoping that as the wide-man continues to settle in to his new surroundings, the fans will be treated to those kind of displays on a much more regular basis.