Leeds United boss Javi Gracia will not hesitate to continue to make surprising team selections in light of his choice to omit Junior Firpo from starting in the Whites' defeat against Fulham last weekend, according to journalist Dean Jones.
What's the latest news involving Junior Firpo and Javi Gracia?
Last Saturday, Gracia opted not to select Firpo to play against Fulham at Craven Cottage, instead fielding Maximilian Wober on the left-hand side of the defence in what ended up being a disappointing 2-1 defeat for the Yorkshire outfit, as per BBC Sport.
Before the clash in west London, Firpo had started Leeds United's last 11 Premier League matches, as per Transfermarkt, meaning that his omission may have come as a surprise to the away support.
Nevertheless, the 26-year-old's form has dipped of late, none more so than in Leeds United's 6-1 loss to Liverpool at Elland Road last Monday. As shown on WhoScored, Firpo endured a torrid time in the affair and picked up a match rating of just 5.35/10 for his exploits.
Gracia has already been recently been pressed on his selection choices of late, particularly that of his failure to field Wilfried Gnonto from the start in their last three matches.
As cited by Leeds Live, the Spaniard spoke about the youngster's fitness before his side's match against Fulham last weekend, stating: “Gnonto is ready. He had a little issue, he had some problem, but now he's ready. He's training from the last weeks and, in the beginning when he came back, it's true I tried to protect a little bit, but now he's ready and available."
Journalist Jones is adamant that Gracia will continue to pick whoever he sees best fit to help Leeds United claim the results they need to secure Premier League survival.
Speaking to Football FanCast, Jones said: "I mean, they've made a lot of changes like that [Firpo omission]. I haven't seen enough of Firpo directly to know whether he would have made any difference in that precise game.
"But Gracia hates the fact that he keeps getting questioned on his team selection. He says I know what I'm looking at, there are different teams for different scenarios."
Can Javi Gracia keep Leeds United in the Premier League?
It looks right now like it could go down to the wire; nevertheless, Leeds have a huge opportunity to put some distance between themselves and their relegation rivals when they face off against Leicester City at Elland Road on Tuesday night.
Securing all three points would take the Whites four points clear of the relegation zone while would also boost morale massively following a three-game losing streak in the Premier League.
On the other hand, losing out to the Foxes at home could have severe consequences, as not only would Leicester leapfrog them in the table, but Everton could also plunge the Yorkshire side into the relegation zone with a victory over Newcastle United on Thursday evening.
Realistically, it's all to play for at this point and events during this midweek round of English top-flight fixtures may go a long way to deciding who manages to avoid the drop come the end of this term.
