Jamie Shackleton hails Leeds teammate Helder Costa

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Jamie Shackleton has praised his Leeds Untied teammate Helder Costa, who will get his chance to impress at the weekend against Charlton Athletic.

Costa has made a decent impression since he joined in the summer from Wolverhampton Wanderers on an initial loan deal and looked sharp in the cup.

The Portuguese attacker has featured in every Championship game too, but manager Marcelo Bielsa has used him as a substitute in each one despite some outrage from fans.

But Bielsa has confirmed in his press conference (Yorkshire Evening Post) that Costa will come in for his first league start on Saturday, as key playmaker Pablo Hernandez will be absent from injury.

Costa has been making some eye-catching cameos from the bench and will now try to do the same from the starting XI.

The 25-year-old is a right-winger blessed with pace and power, while he also achieved promotion from the Championship before with Wolves.

19-year-old midfielder Shackleton believes that teammate Costa is an exceptional dribbler and is looking forward to seeing him in action against Charlton.

“Helder gives everything in training, we train like we play and Helder is exactly the same,” Shackleton said, as quoted by LS11’s Youtube account.

“He has been on the bench and if you slot him in things don’t look disjointed, he’s going to keep up the way we play and hopefully add a bit more and add something a bit different. He’s brilliant one-on-one and hopefully he can add to our game on Saturday.”

TBR’s View:

There is no doubt that the loss of Hernandez from the team is a big blow and the Spanish playmaker can make them tick in the final third.

But Costa’s league start has been long overdue and he deserves the opportunity he will get at Charlton.

There is no reason why he can’t look to consolidate a spot in the team and he needs to make the most of his chance to shine at the weekend.

Costa has proven he can cause full-backs a nightmare with his quick turn of pace and ultimately it’s his end product which will decide how successful he will be at Elland Road.