Former England international striker Kevin Phillips has defended Marcelo Bielsa’s decision to limit the amount of game time Eddie Nketiah received during his loan spell at Elland Road. 

Nketiah returned to his parent club Arsenal during the January transfer window, after the striker found himself unable to force his way into Leeds’ starting line-up ahead of Patrick Bamford, with the 20-year-old being limited to 17 Championship appearances for the Whites - most of which came from the bench.

The striker, though, did manage to score three vital late goals for the Whites from the bench during his time at Elland Road, but Bielsa told LUTV that Nketiah had underestimated what was needed to play for Leeds.

"But even worse, because I am in two situations, I put Bamford on the bench and in two months he was with us, he wasn’t able to play. One player in six months plays two matches, thinks he will arrive to one club and play is underestimating what Leeds is as a club, a team and an institution.

"I think that Nketiah is going to be one of the best English players. He was a starter twice, moving one player like Bamford, a great player and a day later he decides to leave the club."

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Speaking to  Football Insider, Kevin Phillips offered a defence of Bielsa’s handling of Nketiah’s situation and suggested that he was right to limit the amount of game time he received during his loan spell.

"A bit of everything went wrong for him at Leeds, I suppose, maybe not playing enough. You can understand Leeds’ point of view, he’s still a young lad and Bielsa probably sees Patrick Bamford as a more steady, reliable player.

"You can’t really say that Bielsa got it wrong because Leeds are sitting at the top of the league so he knows what he’s doing."

The verdict

This situation has turned into a real negative one for Leeds and Nketiah, with the striker’s loan spell at Elland Road being heavily scrutinised, and Bielsa’s latest comments will not have helped to smooth things over.

However, you can certainly see why Phillips would defend Bielsa, with Leeds still managing to establish themselves as firm contenders for automatic promotion with Bamford up front.

Nketiah did manage to make an impact when he was brought off the bench at times, but Bielsa would have been the one assessing the situation every day on the training ground and seeing whether the Arsenal loanee was doing enough - and he clearly wasn't.

Leeds will be hopeful that Jean-Kevin Augustin’s spell at the club is a far more successful one for both parties.