Leeds should recall defender Gaetano Berardi following injury return

Add as preferred source on Google

Leeds United suffered a frustrating 1-0 defeat to QPR on Tuesday night in the Championship, as they missed the chance to move to the top of the table.

The Whites currently sit third in the league table and have a battle on their hands if they want to secure automatic promotion this seaosn.

Marcelo Bielsa does have a host of injury boosts within his squad and one of the key positives is that defender Gaetano Berardi is now back in senior contention.

The Swiss defender has been getting back up to full speed with the Under-23s after a serious hamstring problem, which has kept him sidelined since October.

But he was on the bench for the Yorkshire giants in the QPR loss and should soon be putting pressure under Bielsa for a start.

Berardi is exactly the type of senior figure needed for the promotion run-in and the manager should find a way of slotting him back into the team.

The 30-year-old is a versatile defender that can fill a number of roles and is a big character that will leave his all on the pitch.

Berardi could definitely slot in well at right-back in place of Luke Ayling, who has not quite been himself this campaign and does make individual errors.

He could also drop in at centre-back if Leeds want to revert to a back three and use wing-backs, something that could give them a great platform for them to kick on.