Noel Whelan suggests he’d have dropped Leeds winger Gjanni Alioski even if there was no international break

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Ezgjan Alioski was left out of the Leeds United squad for their Championship clash with Reading on Saturday.

Noel Whelan has told BBC Radio Leeds that he would have personally left Gjanni Alioski out of the Leeds side that took on Reading even if there had not been an international break leading into the game.

Alioski was left out of the matchday squad for the clash with the Royals, with his involvement in Macedonia’s World Cup qualifiers seemingly the reason behind his omission from the squad.

But Whelan – who was speaking after Thomas Christiansen’s men had lost 1-0 – has insisted that even if the Reading game had immediately followed the Whites’ last league fixture before the break, he would have still left the wide-man out of the squad due to his recent form.

“International break or no international break, I’d have dropped him anyway because he’s not been playing up to scratch. I’d have put Roofe in or Dallas,” he told BBC Radio Leeds.

It is surely fair to say that Alioski’s form has dipped in recent weeks after an extremely bright start to life at Elland Road, where he scored a fantastic goal against Nottingham Forest in August and contributed a couple of assists in the opening weeks of the campaign.

He has struggled more recently to make an impact on games, and unfortunately for the 25-year-old, there did not appear to be anywhere near the same amount of disappointment amongst the fans following the team announcement on Saturday as there was when he was left on the bench for the first game following the previous international break.

But with Leeds enduring a miserable afternoon where their play provided little indication that they were capable of winning the game, it would hardly be a surprise if it is not too long before Alioski is given the chance to prove that his recent form was nothing more than a blip.