Wayne Veysey

Sat 21 January 2017 20:22, UK

By Harry Sykes

Luke Ayling played the full 90 minutes of Leeds’ 3-2 defeat to Barnsley Friday night at centre-back – and fans took to Twitter to criticise a rare error-strewn display.

The defender, who has spent the entirety of the season at right-back up until the last week, was re-deployed for the second consecutive match by manager Garry Monk due to the unavailability of two senior central defenders.

Pontus Jansson was serving the second match of a two-game suspension and Liam Cooper was ruled out due to an injury incurred the FA Cup win at Cambridge on Monday of last week.

Monk, who was also without first-choice left-back Charlie Taylor, selected the same makeshift defence that beat Derby 1-0 eight days ago with academy product Lewie Coyle slotting in at right-back and Ayling moving across to partner defensive lynchpin Kyle Bartley.

But the new-look back line struggled to deal with the hosts’ attack in an enthralling Yorkshire derby after Chris Wood had given Leeds the lead.

Three goals in nine minutes from Barnsley trio Tom Bradshaw, Ryan Kent and Conor Hourihane were enough to keep the high flying visitors at bay even though Wood scored his second with a penalty, his 19th goal of the season.

Supporters were unimpressed by the performance of former Bristol City man Ayling, who has emerged as a hugely popular figure since joining last summer.

Here is a selection of their messages on Twitter:

Leeds’ defeat to Barnsley was their first loss since being defeated by Brighton on 9 December and ends their excellent form either side of the festive period.

Garry Monk’s side drop to fourth in the table after the last of the Saturday fixtures, with Huddersfield leapfrogging them to climb to third.

In other Leeds news, Monk has made a shock transfer revelation after meeting with new owner Andrea Radrizzani.

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