Pontus Jansson’s display in Leeds win addressed question Noel Whelan asked of him earlier this season

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Pontus Jansson was back to something like his best during Leeds United’s Championship clash with Middlesbrough.

Following Leeds’ defeat to Sheffield Wednesday back in October, Noel Whelan told BBC Radio Leeds that he felt that Pontus Jansson tended to go missing when the Whites needed him the most.

Jansson was a colossus during his first season at Elland Road, but his form at the start of this campaign was a lot more underwhelming, and after watching Leeds lose 3-0 away at Hillsborough last month, several of the fans would have been forgiven for agreeing with Whelan that the Swede does not step up when the chips are down.

However, the 26-year-old’s performance in the 2-1 weekend win over Middlesbrough surely showed that he does indeed have what it takes to inspire the side when Leeds are under the cosh.

Jansson had arguably been enjoying his best performance of the season as Thomas Christiansen’s side went into a 2-0 lead early in the second-half against Garry Monk’s side, winning a number of challenges and duels and bringing out his trademark full-blooded challenges on a number of occasions.

But many Leeds fans would have undoubtedly been fearing the worst when Boro were given a controversial penalty in the latter stages of the game, allowing Britt Assombalonga to make the score 2-1 with 13 minutes to go.

Given that the goal handed Boro the momentum and Leeds would have been forgiven for letting their frustration boil over given that it was surely the wrong decision to award a spot-kick, the final minutes of the game presented Jansson with the perfect opportunity to prove that he can inspire the rest of the side when they are up against it.

And he undoubtedly shone to help Leeds keep Middlesbrough at bay, making a couple of crucial blocks, winning several headers and making a couple of hugely important challenges – often following each up with a mini celebration towards the crowd that kept the energy going until the final whistle.

Jansson surely has to replicate that level of performance on numerous occasions in the coming weeks if he wants to prove that he can drag the team with him when someone needs to step up – but the performance against Boro certainly suggests that he can prove Whelan’s previous criticism wrong.