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Ben Parker has praised Leeds United youngster Pascal Struijk for his recent contribution, as he’s stepped into the team superbly well in the past two games.

With injuries in the heart of defence right now for the Whites, 21-year-old Dutchman Struijk has started back-to-back matches in the Premier League for the first time this season.

He’s been involved in victories over Burnley and West Brom in the past few days, keeping clean sheets in both.

Struijk is a squad player at Elland Road that provides cover in a couple of positions and he’s a centre-back by trade, but a lot of his minutes so far this season have come in a defensive midfield position.

The left-footer has though had the opportunity in the past week to shine in his preferred position at centre-back and looked the part alongside another versatile star in Luke Ayling.

Parker has been impressed by the mentality Struijk has shown to smoothly drop back into defence.

“Pascal Struijk coming in, young lad, didn’t really have much to do [against Burnley or West Brom]. I think it’s a good sign you don’t really want to be talking about your defenders, centre-halves having loads to do, so it’s a credit to him for just slotting straight in there because he hasn’t really played a lot of football as a centre-half,” Parker said.

“With Pascal he’s been playing that holding midfield role, even when he drops down into the Under-23s to get some minutes… To have the mentality to go back into a different position where you haven’t played as much, probably haven’t trained there as much, and to get two clean sheets for a young boy, big credit to him.”

TBR’s View:

Struijk certainly fits the profile of a Bielsa-type player, as he can play a variety of positions and aged 21 he’s such an exciting prospect.

He’s done a decent job at Elland Road providing cover in the centre of the park, but his physique and style makes him much more suited to playing as a centre-back.

His long-term ambition has to be to play regularly in the heart of defence for the Yorkshire giants and based off his recent form he’s making a strong case for himself to keep his position in the XI for the time being.