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With Luke Ayling, Gaetano Berardi and Stuart Dallas all currently ruled out through injury, Leeds United manager Marcelo Bielsa started teenage midfielder Jamie Shackleton in the right-back role during Saturday’s 2-1 win against Queens Park Rangers at Elland Road.
The Argentinean boss was left with few other options following the latest blow for Dallas as he joined the ever-increasing defensive injury list, and after starting there on two other occasions already this term it was the 19-year-old who got the nod against Steve McClaren’s visitors.
Shackleton would have been keen to take his opportunity to impress having only featured for 136 minutes in the Championship this term before the weekend, and he certainly did.
On the chalkboard
When Bielsa is playing a formation that incorporates four defenders he will want his full-backs to be impactful from an attacking point of view, decent defensively and in general technically efficient when they have the ball.
Ayling was the undoubted first-choice for the 63-year-old prior to the knee injury he suffered against Nottingham Forest last month, and he appears likely to be out of action until the start of 2019 at the very earliest.
With Dallas ruled out for up to six weeks too, Bielsa needed to find a solution ahead of the busy festive period, and he might have just done it.
Is Shackleton the next Ayling?
The impressive teenager may naturally be a central midfielder, but he made a big impression at right-back against QPR, earning the praise of his manager in the process.
He not only looked calm, composed and comfortable from a defensive point of view despite coming up against tough opposition in Luke Freeman, but he also made an impact in the final third for the Championship high-flyers by having one shot and making one key pass, as per WhoScored.
He also showed his skill in possession with a brilliant passing accuracy of 89.2%, to suggest that while he may have come into contention for a first-team spot as a midfielder, his long-term home could be at right-back as the next Ayling.
