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News
Leeds United could face Pontus Jansson in crunch Brentford clash after injury recovery
Leeds United might be facing off against a familiar face in their crunch promotion clash with Brentford tonight. The Whites sold Pontus Jansson to the Bees for a to be in the region of £5.5 million in the summer. It was a shock move as Jansson had established himself as a firm fan favourite at Elland Road.
Now, it appears Jansson could be in line for a return to action after a hip injury this evening. The Sweden international has been out of action since the 3-1 win over QPR last month, missing Brentford’s last four Championship fixtures. But as club captain, it is likely he will slot straight back into the starting XI if fit.
Speaking to the press yesterday, Brentford boss Frank confirmed Jansson is now back in training and could feature against his old team. Frank also stated how the Swede could help against his old club.
“Yeah of course. I think when you play teams where players played last year or they have a specific knowledge about the style of course we use that in the build-up to the game.
“We use it a lot, especially in the first game [earlier in the season]. So that knowledge was already in our knowledge book about Leeds going into the preparation for this game. Small bits, small bits.”
TBR’s View
Not many Leeds fans would have feared Jansson being involved in the promotion battle with the West Yorkshire side when he headed to Griffin Park.
But Brentford have taken plenty by surprise with their excellent form this season and are currently on a run of one defeat in their last 10 games. Win against Leeds tonight, and Brentford will leapfrog the Whites into the automatic promotion places.
There is no doubt that Leeds are missing Jansson, even if Ben White has proved a major improvement. Jansson’s form at Brentford has been superior to Leeds captain Liam Cooper’s, and the lack of a quality third-choice centre-back has cost Leeds recently with White’s move into midfield.
Leeds, who are currently struggling to find goals on a regular basis, will know the task they have at beating a Jansson-led Brentford defence tomorrow. White and Cooper will have to show they are indeed the better centre-back options.