BBC pundit: I was blown away by this Leeds player v Preston, he can't be axed again

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Published on:

08 Apr 2017, 11:58 am

By Alex Stevens

Noel Whelan has revealed he was blown away by the performance of Kemar Roofe in Leeds' convincing 3-0 win against Preston on Saturday.

Roofe was recalled to the starting XI as manager Garry Monk made three changes from the side that were defeated by Brentford in midweek.

The attacking midfielder ha struggled for game time in recent weeks but repaid Monk's faith with an outstanding display that included the game's first goal.

Roofe kept his cool to lift his shot over Preston keeper Chris Maxwell after 18 minutes, before goals from Pablo Hernandez and substitute Souleymane Doukara secured the three points.

Former Leeds striker Whelan identified Roofe as the outstanding player on the pitch and explained why it was imperative that he was not axed from the team.

"You can't put it down to one man, but Hernandez and Roofe were just awesome," said Whelan, as quoted by the BBC Leeds website's live match blog (Saturday, 5.01pm). "They were everywhere with their interchanging, and their movement caused so many problems.

"I think Roofe is man of the match, and he has to keep his place today. He was so positive and he wanted to score a goal - you could see that 30 seconds before he did. He's got the pace, talent and an eye for goal. He can go on from there. This is the next step in his development."

Roofe's goal was his fourth of the season from 44 matches in all competitions, which have been supplemented by six assists.

Leeds' win cemented their place in the play-off positions as they lifted their points tally to 72 with five matches of their league campaign remaining.

In other Leeds transfer news, the club have sealed an out-of-window midfielder transfer.

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Leeds United

Kemar Roofe

Pablo Hernandez