Leeds United come face to face with their former manager Garry Monk on Sunday.
While football fans are currently bemoaning yet another international break, they will soon be enjoying the domestic action once more, and Leeds United manager Thomas Christiansen has some big decisions to make in terms of team selection on Sunday.
The Whites have been woeful for weeks now, with a run of defeats sending them crashing out of the play-off spots and piling the pressure on a manager who only arrived in the summer. And for that reason Christiansen needs to get his starting XI spot on this weekend.
Here we discuss three key decisions for the Leeds boss as he approaches a make-or-break moment in his Whites tenure:
Start Stuart Dallas
Too often this season Leeds have overlooked winger Stuart Dallas, despite him being exactly what they need.
After the heartbreak of Northern Ireland’s World Cup play-off defeat to Switzerland, Dallas will be gunning for a more positive result in his next outing and Christiansen should unleash the 26-year-old from the outset.
Persist with Andy Lonergan
It would be easy to look at Leeds’ 3-1 defeat to Brentford last time out and ditch the goalkeeper but Andy Lonergan deserves a prolonged run in the starting XI.
He is a far better, and safer, option than fellow summer signing Felix Wiedwald and this one really is a no-brainer.
Re-call Conor Shaughnessy
The least likely thing to happen, but it really should, Leeds must consider bringing Conor Shaughnessy back in from the cold.
After all, their defence has been battered for weeks and the likes of Pontus Jansson and Liam Cooper have been under-performing just when Christiansen needs them at their best.
Shaughnessy did well when he played earlier in the season and does not deserve to be cast aside when his more experienced defensive teammates have flattered to deceive.
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