Paul Heckingbottom shares the real reason he replaced Leeds’ Caleb Ekuban at half-time against Villa

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Aston Villa beat Leeds United 1-0 in the Championship last night.

Leeds boss Paul Heckingbottom addressed the media last night, in the aftermath of his side’s 1-0 defeat to Aston Villa, and opened up on the real reason why he chose to take off Caleb Ekuban after just 45 minutes, as quoted by Leeds Live.

The former Barnsley manager has found it tough going since being handed the reigns at Elland Road, and he really does have his work cut out, if he hopes to guide his side back to the Premier League over the next few years.

The main problem for the Whites boss is that he actually has not yet settled on a system, nor has he identified which players he trusts.

Ekuban certainly fits into that category.

The 24-year-old joined Leeds in the summer from Chievo, but he has struggled to establish himself in west Yorkshire, scoring just two goals in 18 appearances in all competitions for the Whites thus far.

Heckingbottom spoke to reporters after his side’s defeat to Villa last night, and shared why he chose to take the Ghanaian off at half-time, as quoted by Leeds Live:

“It was purely tactical. We wanted to keep playing forward passes but we wanted to keep possession better and that’s one of Samu’s strengths. Yeah, we might lose physical presence and lose an extra body in the box but it was important that we retained possession in the box better. We did that, but you could still see we suffered in terms of getting bodies in the box and if we’re going to score it was going to be either from sustained pressure or an eye of the needle type ball.”

Next up for Leeds is a home game against Heckingbottom’s former side Barnsley on Saturday, and Ekuban will be hoping for another chance to impress his manager, after his poor display against Villa.