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Dominic Matteo has explained that he’s a big supporter of Leeds United defender Luke Ayling, but has criticised him for his most recent display in the team’s fixture before the international break.

Marcelo Bielsa’s side were beaten 4-1 away to Crystal Palace in the league and have hit a small dip in form by losing three of their last four games.

Ex-Leeds star Matteo has spoken about how the Yorkshire club may need to become more defensively astute as the league season continues after shipping 17 goals in just eight league games.

He’s explained that Ayling was one of the players that struggled at Crystal Palace, highlighting that he was more focused on trying to get forward than defensive work with his back to goal.

The 29-year-old right-sided defender found it extremely difficult against in-form Palace attacker Wilfried Zaha, who has five goals in eight games this season and drifted into the channel to try expose Ayling one-on-one.

“I’ve been one of Luke Ayling’s biggest supporters and he has been outstanding for Leeds, before promotion and since, but up against a top line player like Wilfried Zaha, he just didn’t look comfortable defensively,” Matteo told the Yorkshire Evening Post.

“Maybe he’s still looking to get forward when he should be taking up good defensive positions.

“I would be thinking just do my job today, defend, don’t give Zaha a chance but we just didn’t get tight to him. If he gets space and time he’ll kill you and he was a real thorn in our side.”

TRB’s View:

Ayling won’t be the last player this season to struggle defending against Zaha, who appears to have rediscovered some of his best form in the past couple of months and is playing with such confidence.

But it’s a fair assessment that full-back Ayling may need to be a little more conservative with his approach and the question will be whether manager Bielsa is willing to tinker slightly with his style of play.

Ayling is rightfully an ever-present in the XI and he offers so much with his tenacious work-rate when he flies forward into the final third, but Leeds need to find a way of keeping goals out the other end.