Noel Whelan reacts to Leeds’s 1-1 draw with Preston North End

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Noel Whelan has told BBC Radio Leeds (broadcast on 22/10 from 21:45) that Eddie Nketiah proved a real point during Leeds United’s 1-1 draw with Preston North End.

With West Brom looking set to drop points at Barnsley, Leeds had the chance to go top of the Championship. However, the Whites missed the opportunity as the points were shared with Preston.

It was a mixed night for Marcelo Bielsa’s side. They produced some good football in the middle of the park. But once again, they seemed to lose all composure in the final third.

And they were initially punished for failing to test Declan Rudd as Preston produced a counter attack that led to the game’s opening goal in the 74th minute.

However, Nketiah staked his claim to start as he scored an equalising goal. The Arsenal loanee got on the end of Tyler Roberts’s cross, and the Preston defence could not keep his effort out.

And Whelan suggested that Nketiah is the striker that is going to boost Leeds’s chances of promotion.

“There’s two different kind of strikers out there,” he told BBC Radio Leeds. “You’ve got one that might have an overall better game and what Marcelo Bielsa wants. But at the end of the day, goals win you games and they save you games.

“And the natural goalscorer is Eddie Nketiah. He’s the one who’s more instinctive. He’s the one that’s got the better finishing ability. That’s what you want as a centre-forward. That’s what gets you promotion. A natural goalscorer.”

It was the kind of night that would have left Leeds fans tearing their hair out. The Whites went into the game having scored just four goals in their previous five games in the Championship.

Their inability to take their chances has already cost them on numerous occasions. And it looked set to cost them again as Preston took a late lead.

They did not manage to win the game. But Nketiah ensured that the visitors had something to smile about. There is surely no chance now that the striker will not start this weekend.