It was a frustrating afternoon for Leeds United on Saturday as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Nottingham Forest at Elland Road, with Lewis Grabban’s 77th minute equaliser denying Marcelo Bielsa’s men.  

Leeds weren’t clinical enough on the day despite dominating possession, and there were shades of their 2018/19 performances, with Bielsa’s attackers missing plenty of chances.

Whilst the blame of Leeds failing to score goals will fall at the feet of the strikers, Bielsa’s side weren’t accurate across the board, with the set-piece of Kalvin Phillips and Barry Douglas not bringing nearly enough despite 10 corners.

Douglas is currently Bielsa’s first-choice left-back, with the Scot ahead of Ezgjan Alioski and Leif Davis in a competitive field. Alioski has a really strong engine, whilst Davis is a naturally talented player thriving in the academy.

Yet, faith is with former promotion-winner, Douglas, who helped Wolves to the title in 2017/18.

In our FLW Spotlight feature today, we shine the light on his outing against Forest…

The 29-year-old completed 90 minutes of the 1-1 draw at the weekend, producing some good and bad numbers.

Taking a look at the Scot’s use of the ball makes impressive reading. In the eyes of many, this is why Douglas is in the side; he uses the ball well from the left and his initial pass into midfield is often a strong one.

Of the 54 he attempted against Forest, a completion rate of 85% was achieved, which was particularly solid given how he looks to play forwards.

However, one standout trait of Douglas’ that Leeds are yet to see is his ‘wand’ of a left-foot. During Wolves’ promotion-winning campaign, the left-back scored five goals and added 14 assists.

His set-piece finds good areas, but for some reason, Leeds don’t seem to benefit from it like Wolves did. In fact, only 25% of Douglas’ crosses on Saturday were accurate – not all his fault – but it is still quite alarming.

Some of those inaccurate crosses contributed towards 12 losses of possession, but again, with Douglas looking to play positively and taking set-pieces, these kind of numbers are to be expected.

A classy defender like Douglas isn’t known for his battling qualities, so a duel success of 36% is perhaps expected when analysing the defensive side of the full-back’s game.

Overall, it was a mixed afternoon for Douglas, with 65% of the actions he attempted against Forest successful. By no means bad numbers, but definite room for improvement.

And, that’s probably been the story of Douglas’ career with Leeds so far. He’s had some lovely touches, but the consistency and lethal dead-ball of his Wolves days hasn’t been there.

Perhaps him rediscovering that extra piece of quality might lead to the Whites putting sides to the sword.