Leeds United’s matchday squad for the trip to Sheffield Wednesday included Eunan O’Kane and Ronaldo Vieira, but not Mateusz Klich.
When Thomas Christiansen named his Leeds squad for their trip to Sheffield Wednesday at the weekend, few eyebrows were raised with Eunan O’Kane and Kalvin Phillips playing alongside each other in holding midfield and Ronaldo Vieira taking a place on the bench.
However, with some interesting facts emerging about both O’Kane and Vieira, it could surely be argued that Mateusz Klich should be more alarmed by his absence from the squad than many would have initially expected him to be.
The Poland international has not featured prominently since arriving at Elland Road in the summer, but had done extremely well in the League Cup clash with Burnley – capping his stunning performance off with a brilliant penalty as Leeds went on to win the shootout – and earned a starting spot when O’Kane was unavailable for the trip to Cardiff in the days before the Wednesday clash.
Klich did not play particularly well against the Bluebirds – making the mistake that led to the first goal – so missing out on the Owls game would have surprised few in all honesty.
But his omission looks significantly more surprising now that Republic of Ireland boss Martin O’Neill has told the Irish Independent that O’Kane needed painkilling injections before the defeat at Hillsborough due to cracked ribs, while Vieira withdrew from the England under-20 squad the day after the Wednesday game due to a minor knee injury, as reported by the club’s official website.
Therefore, the fact that Klich was deemed by Christiansen to be less likely to make an impact than a player who had cracked ribs or one who had a knock on his knee – assuming that Vieira’s injury came in the build-up to the game against the Owls – should surely leave the 27-year-old seriously concerned about his chances of breaking into the side once again, unless he himself was carrying a knock.
But if he was fit to play, then it would appear that there is an argument to suggest that Klich’s Leeds future may already look bleak.
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