Wayne Veysey

Wed 7 March 2018 18:58, UK

By Richard Parks

Paul Heckingbottom has revealed that he felt he had little choice but to fast-track Bailey Peacock-Farrell into the Leeds United starting XI for their Championship showdown against Wolves.

The recently-appointed United boss has sprung a major surprise by axing Felix Wiedwald even though his number two Andy Lonergan is unavailable due to injury.

Heckingbottom has instead turned to academy product Peacock-Farrell, 21, for Wednesday night’s televised clash against runaway leader Wolves.

Asked why he had opted to hand the youngster just his second Leeds appearance, Heckingbottom told the club’s media channels, as quoted by the official Leeds Twitter account: “We felt we needed to make a change and Bailey has a big opportunity now. He has played before and opportunities like this aren’t always available to you as a young player. He has to be really positive in his mindset”.

Peacock-Farrell will make just his second appearance for Leeds after playing in a 1-1 draw with QPR in the Championship two years ago.

Leeds take on league leaders Wolves at Elland Road tonight after a string of poor results – their last 12 matches have yielded just one victory – has left their play-off hopes in tatters.

Football Insider verdict:

This is a turn up for the books as Heckingbottom had strongly suggested at his media briefing on Monday that he did not rate Peacock-Farrell too highly due to the obvious deficiencies in his game. True, Wiedwald has made too many errors and cannot hardly complain about the axe, but the manager was expected to give the number one for most of the season another go, especially as Lonergan is unavailable. However Peacock-Farrell performs tonight, the German’s Elland Road career is unlikely to extend beyond the summer.

In other Leeds United news, it can be revealed that the club have launched a bid to sign a Premier League centre-forward in the form of his life.