Paul Heckingbottom touts Leeds United’s Gaetano Berardi as a potential centre-back option.
Leeds United boss Paul Heckingbottom has told LS11 that Gaetano Berardi could take up a centre-back role on Saturday due to an ever-increasing injury crisis.
The Whites’ dwindling number of available centre-backs dropped lower on Tuesday when Matthew Pennington was a casualty in the 2-0 defeat away to Fulham.
Heckingbottom already has Liam Cooper and Conor Shaughnessy on the sidelines, and Pennington’s setback could open the door for Paudie O’Connor, who was named on the bench last night.
Berardi, usually a left or right-back, has performed well in a central role in the past, and Heckingbottom suggests that the no-nonsense Swiss defender could also partner Pontus Jansson when Sunderland visit Elland Road this weekend.
He told a press conference, via LS11: “Obviously Bera’s played there before and done a good job.
“He’s comfortable there, but it’s a reshuffle we could do without, but it’s an opportunity for someone else to come in and stake a claim.”
If it wasn’t obvious before, Leeds desperately need to bolster their centre-back options in the summer. Even if first-choice Cooper was fit, is he good enough to partner Jansson in a promotion-winning team? Evidently not.
Realistically, this injury crisis doesn’t matter for Leeds, in terms of results. Heckingbottom’s side are 19 points clear of the bottom three, but 10 points adrift of a playoff spot in 13th.
Obviously United will want to finish as high as possible and recover some of the pride that has been hemorrhaged in a disastrous 2018, but victories and defeats aren’t all that important for a Leeds side with very little to play for, it must be said
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