Leeds United boss Marcelo Bielsa has claimed he left new signing Jean-Kevin Augustin out of the squad for his side's clash against Wigan because the striker needs to get up to speed with how the Whites play.

Augustin was signed on a loan deal until the end of the season from RB Leipzig earlier this week, but Bielsa did not choose to include the 22-year-old in the match-day squad ahead of his side's eventual 1-0 defeat to relegation-threatened Wigan.

The Whites dominated the first half before falling behind to Pablo Hernandez's own goal from Joe Williams' corner, with the Elland Road outfit squandering a number of opportunities to get on the scoresheet before and after the Latics took the lead.

Bielsa decided to once again start regular striker Patrick Bamford in attack following his two goals against Millwall during the week, but the Leeds frontman was responsible for missing a handful of chances during a difficult afternoon.

The Athletic's Phil Hay has now taken to Twitter to share Bielsa's explanation for excluding Augustin from the squad from his, with the Argentine claiming he does not want to expose the striker to the Championship before he is accustomed to Leeds' playing style.

Augustin became Leeds' third signing of the transfer window when he arrived at Elland Road on Monday, with the striker having had his loan spell at Monaco cut short in order to link up with Leeds which is his first English club.

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The Verdict

The addition of Augustin is an excellent coup for Leeds given the quality he already possesses in addition to how further he can progress, with this making it seem strange that there was not even a place on the bench for the frontman against Wigan.

It would have been understandable for Bielsa to stick with Patrick Bamford in attack following his brace against Millwall in midweek, but I think the Argentine should have named Augustin on the bench even if he was not keen on using him.

It is important Augustin becomes fully immersed in life at Leeds as soon as possible, and I think including him in the squad would have been a step forward on this front, but there is clearly a good reason why Bielsa felt it was too soon to deploy him.