Danny Cowley yet to get the best out of Huddersfield Town, claims Leeds United chief Marcelo Bielsa

Huddersfield host Leeds United in today’s lunchtime kick-off two points and three places above the relegation zone, whereas the visitors are second.

Bielsa’s assessment might seem a little harsh given the improvement Cowley has made to a team which had the hangover of Premier League relegation when he replaced Jan Siewert in September. They had not won since February, but have since come out on top in four of 13 games, losing four.

“They have players that deserve to be higher in the table,” said Bielsa. “That makes me think they are waiting for the impact of the manager.

“A manager’s work is about trying to balance the results with the players he has. Those processes are not linear, they are up and down.”

Few leagues in the world are as up and down as the Championship, noted for its unpredictability. Greater consistency is the challenge for managers like Cowley and coaches such as Bielsa, but the Argentinian says it is tough for him to influence.

“It’s very difficult for any team to avoid those highs and lows,” he insisted.

“You don’t see those highs and lows with Liverpool but that’s the exception to the rule The manager doesn’t so anything special (to try to eradicate the inconsistencies).

“Every week I try to correct the mistakes and develop the good things.”

With Kalvin Phillips suspended for his fifth yellow card this season, Ben White will be Leeds’s holding midfielder. Jamie Shackleton and Tyler Roberts are “two to three” weeks away from fitness, while no date has been put on Adam Forshaw’s return.