Saiz may have to be patient as Forshaw shines after replacing him

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Samu Saiz’s struggles to replicate last season’s goalscoring form saw him dropped for the visit of Nottingham Forest on Saturday.

Adam Forshaw, who has had to be patient since returning from a foot injury at the start of the season, came in to replace the Spaniard and beef up the home midfield.

It was not an unqualified success, as Aitor Karanka’s side left Elland Road with a point following a 1-1 draw.

But Marcelo Bielsa was effusive in his praise for the former Middlesbrough midfielder, which may be bad news for Saiz.

He said of Forshaw’s display: “Very good. He’s a player who compared himself very well to play the game he played today. It’s as if he didn’t need to play many games to play as he did today.

“This tells you how prepared he was. He didn’t prepare himself with games, he did it in training sessions. I thought that the association between Forshaw and Klich could give us agility in the building of offensive play.”

Although Saiz did get off the bench, Forshaw’s impressive performance and the high praise from the manager indicates the Englishman could well be in the team for good.

That would mean last season’s talisman needing to be patient in the hunt to get back in the team.