Phil Hay says that Marcelo Bielsa is unlikely to be fully happy with his midfield set-up despite their recent good form.

Leeds United are currently in a strong position to secure promotion to the Premier League after extending their unbeaten run to four matches.

That has included a streak of three victories in a row - all of which have been achieved with a 1-0 scoreline.

Mateusz Klich and Pablo Hernandez have established themselves as Bielsa's first choice midfield pairing, but according to Hay, the duo don't quite strike the balance that the head coach would ideally crave.

Speaking on The Phil Hay podcast, he said: “I don’t think that the balance in midfield is exactly as Marcelo Bielsa would want it.

“Essentially they don’t have two number 8s.

“They have Klich who we’ve all come to realise is a full-blown, out-and-out number 8 and very good in that role but I think there are times where you almost feel that he’s doing the job of two players in there.

“He’s got Pablo Hernandez alongside him who is not 100% suited to playing that deeper central midfield role.

“Hernandez is an attacking player and we saw when he played on the right last season that he’s very effective with assists and goals and dictating play going forward.

“I think you keep Hernandez in the team for the simple reason that he does the things that Klich generally doesn’t.

“Klich scored away at Middlesbrough and it was his goal that won the game but it was Hernandez who was on the end of the chance to hit the post and Hernandez who was on the edge of the box to play that little pass in for him to score and it was still Hernandez who provided the magic to get the goal against Reading.

“You keep him in the team because generally speaking Leeds win games when he’s in the team but you could say that Bielsa is kind of cheating his own system by having Klich and Hernandez in there because in an ideal world he’d like a Forshaw and a Klich as his preferred pairing.

“He doesn’t have anyone else to play ahead of Hernandez other than Jamie Shackleton who doesn’t seem to fit into the exact mould of what he what he wants.

“With all of that taken into consideration you start to realise how much work Klich is doing and how much responsibility is on him.

“He’s had two really big games in the past week where he and Stuart Dallas stood out quite considerably above everybody else.”

How many of Leeds United's number 10s can you remember?

The verdict

Phil Hay's comments may appear to be slightly harsh, but they certainly make sense.

Pablo Hernandez is not a central midfielder by trade as he often enjoys the freedom that comes with playing in a more advanced role.

That said, Marcelo Bielsa has had to make some tough decisions as he deals with a number of selection woes.

It might not be a pairing that is the most balanced, but as long as they can keep getting the desired results then I highly doubt that anyone will care too much.