Leeds United goalkeeper, Kiko Casilla, has had an impressive start to this season after what was a dismal end to the last campaign.

The shot-stopper was at fault during the play-off semi-final second-leg as he was caught out by Derby's tactic of playing the ball into the space between both himself and the centre-halves. This often led the keeper to dash out of his goal, and on several occasions mistime his run.

This season, he seems far more comfortable in goal, and the former Real Madrid man has been a mainstay in Marcelo Bielsa's side. He adds more than just being able to save shots on goal, as he has an excellent passing range in his locker.

In the first six games of the season, he has already made 122 short passes (statistics sourced from Whoscored) for Bielsa's side. Astonishingly, he has a 97.5% passing accuracy when it comes to the shorter balls, and that is something that highlights Bielsa's style of trying to play from the back.

It's also highlighted in his long pass statistics. The 32-year-old has made just 38 long passes in six games. An average of just over six long passes per game, which is very low for a keeper in the Championship. Clearly the idea at Leeds is to play it short from the back.

Casilla has conceded just three goals this season, an average of one every two games. He's a crucial part to this Leeds side, and his passion is also evident when he's on the pitch which is something that the Elland Road faithful will be pleased to see.

The experience that he has had throughout his career makes him a vital player to have in and around the first-team squad, and without his silly mistakes he is a goalkeeper with real quality. If he can keep up this early form, he'll give Leeds a great opportunity of getting back to the Premier League this season.

The defenders in this Leeds side will have gained confidence in this new league campaign having seen Casilla looking much more assured at the back.

After Pontus Jansson departed for Brentford in the summer, it was vital that Leeds continued to keep the core unit around Casilla. They did that, and even added a very talented defender in Ben White, who has been excellent in the opening six fixtures.

The former Espanyol keeper has undoubted quality, and with his feet he is very composed. It's interesting to see how much Bielsa has stuck with the Spaniard, but it's also credit to him to recover from his shaky start to come back better and now push on and try to help Leeds wipe away their demons from last season.