Noel Whelan slams Jay-Roy Grot’s performance in Leeds’ cup defeat

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Leeds United were knocked out of the Carabao Cup by Leicester City on Tuesday night.

Leeds may have put up a spirited fight in their Carabao Cup clash with Leicester on Tuesday night, but Noel Whelan has slammed one player’s performance during BBC Radio Leeds’ post-match coverage, labelling Jay-Roy Grot a 19-year-old baby following the clash at the King Power Stadium.

The Whites took the lead against the Premier League side thanks to a stunner from Pablo Hernandez during the second-half, but it was the Foxes who ultimately booked their place in the quarter-final as they claimed a 3-1 win against the Championship high-flyers.

But while Thomas Christiansen’s men put up a brave fight, Whelan has suggested that Grot – who started in place up front in place of Pierre-Michel Lasogga – was a huge disappointment on the night.

“He doesn’t use his body well enough. He’s not strong enough, whether that’s coming from his head, I’m not so sure, whether he thinks he’s got the good-given right because he’s got the good physique to hold the ball up, you don’t,” he told BBC Radio Leeds.

“Roofe can do it better than and he’s 5 ft 8. He’s lazy, he needs to start working harder. He needs to start getting himself on the side of the halfway line where the ball is. He needs to bring people into play, need to see more from him because right now, I’m seeing a 19-year-old baby.”

Jay-Roy Grot

With Lasogga clearly the first-choice striker within the squad, Grot would have known that the contest against the top flight side was a great chance for him to make an impact and send a message to Christiansen that he deserves to be used more often when Lasogga is not at his best.

But with his performance clearly leaving Whelan frustrated just days after Lasogga played a starring role in the win over Bristol City, it appears that the teenager has let a golden opportunity to make an impact pass him by.