Leeds United employee shares Luke Ayling claim after Thorp Arch update
Noel Whelan has claimed Luke Ayling is the “natural choice” to come in at right-back after his Leeds United return against Brentford on Saturday (3 September).
The former Whites striker, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, praised the 31-year-old’s leadership qualities and output in the final third.
Ayling came off the bench for the final 20 minutes of Leeds United’s 5-2 defeat at Brentford on Saturday (3 September) and provided an assist for Marc Roca’s 79th-minute strike.
The former Yeovil man underwent knee surgery toward the end of the 2021-22 campaign and missed the first five games of the new campaign.
Ayling, who can also play at centre-back, is out of contract in June 2023.
As per the Yorkshire Evening Post (4 September), summer signing Rasmus Kristensen suffered an injury in training last week – with youngster Cody Drameh starting against Brentford in his stead.
When asked if Ayling will come in against Nottingham Forest on Monday (12 September) if Kristensen remains sidelined, Whelan told Football Insider‘s Ewan Kingsbury: “I think so.
“Ayling is the natural right-back option at the moment.
“When you look at what he brings to the side – he’s a captain, a leader. He brings energy, gets forward – and he reads the game really well.
“If Kristensen is out for a few games then he’ll be a natural choice.
“We saw it straight away, he came on and got into the game. He went straight down the line and provided a quality ball for Roca’s goal.
“He’s hard to leave out when he’s bringing danger like that.”
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