Should Leeds’ Tom Pearce feel concerned by Stuart Dallas selection?

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Stuart Dallas started at left-back for Leeds United’s latest Championship clash at the weekend.

With Barry Douglas injured ahead of Leeds’ home clash with Brentford at the weekend, it appeared that Marcelo Bielsa would turn to either Tom Pearce or Stuart Dallas to fill the left-back void against the latter’s former side.

Pearce is the natural left-back, but Dallas is becoming one of the more important players in Bielsa’s squad given his versatility. Only Lewis Baker has made more substitute appearances than the Northern Irishman for Leeds in the Championship so far.

And it was Dallas who got the nod on what proved to be a difficult afternoon for the Whites. A late Pontus Jansson header saw Leeds secure a point after a dramatic contest.

Interestingly, after the fiery clash, Bielsa suggested, in comments reported by the Yorkshire Evening Post, that Dallas played the game with an injury sustained the previous day that would normally rule others out.

The situation arguably raises an interesting point regarding Pearce’s role. The youngster is yet to feature in the league this season, and being overlooked on Saturday just hints that Bielsa is not as confident in his current ability as some fans may perhaps be.

With Douglas blocking his path to the first-team, Pearce could have previously had few complaints about his lack of game-time, but Dallas getting in ahead of him is potentially concerning, especially as the winger took an injury into the game.

Bielsa may feel that the work done with Dallas in training in the build-up made taking the risk of keeping him in the side worthwhile. Perhaps if Dallas’ knock had come earlier, Pearce may have got the nod.

But as things stand, Pearce could perhaps have some questions regarding what he needs to do to get into Bielsa’s side, especially after Gjanni Alioski dropped back into the role in the latter stages and potentially pushed the academy graduate further down the pecking order with one of his better displays in recent weeks.

Bielsa keeping Pearce in the fold shows that he does rate the youngster – he has cut the squad down significantly since arriving so any players who remain are clearly amongst those he trusts – but the Englishman could perhaps have slight concerns about his prospects for this season with Dallas being picked ahead of him and Bielsa’s comments following the game.