Leeds United probably wish they still had Tom Pearce available amid injury turmoil

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Leeds United have a left-back problem going into the end of the season. Barry Douglas and Ezgjan Alioski are both out for the rest of the campaign with injury trouble. Last season, under Paul Heckingbottom, Leeds were also struggling at left-back.

Gaetano Berardi had an injury and suspension-ravaged campaign, Laurens De Bock proved a flop and Vurnon Anita’s filling in left much to be desired.

Heckingbottom turned to his youngsters, namely, Tom Pearce.

He went on to play the final four games of the season, even scoring against Barnsley. Leeds fans were thoroughly impressed by his swashbuckling style at left-back. His form was so impressive he earned an England under-21 call-up and, as reported by The Sun on Sunday (27/05/18; pg 65) suggested Bournemouth were ready to pay £2 million for the player whose contract was expiring last summer.

In the end, Leeds secured his future until 2022 and Pearce likely felt he was in line for a big season.

However, he failed to impress Marcelo Bielsa and after a poor first half of the season was loaned out to Scunthorpe in January.

A loan exit made perfect sense for Pearce at the time. He was not featuring and Leeds had plenty of left-backs ahead of him in the pecking order. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, however, and there will be no doubt among fans that having Pearce available would be a huge bonus right now.

Leeds fans will just have to believe the current options can pull off their promotion dream.