Leeds United feel the width as Jack Harrison and Luis Sinisterra bring wing play to the fore again at Elland Road

Proper wingmen have been dying out in 21st Century football. The flanks seem full of frustrated centre-forwards – players like Mohammed Salah, Marcus Rashford, Son Heung-Min and Jarrod Bowen who like to arrive from wider to score. Others prefer to drift behind a No 9 and pick a pass.

Attacking players who see the touchline as their domain are becoming rarer. But every fashion makes a comeback in the end.

Crystal Palace have one of the best old-school wingers – a player who enjoys dribbling past full-backs with the ball rather than sneaking inside them without it – in Wilfried Zaha, but not at Elland Road on Sunday because he has injured his groin.

Marcelo Bielsa liked a winger but the next Leeds coach, Jesse Marsch, was notoriously narrow-minded in that respect. Under him, what width there was tended to come from full-backs like Rasmus Kristensen.

Marsch's method was no better or worse than any other. It could certainly have success in his next job.

But tactics are just about getting the best out of what you have, and his seemed to ignore that in Luis Sinisterra, Willy Gnonto, Jack Harrison and Crysencio Summerville he had a stable of wingers as good as most in the Premier League.

When he asked his "wide" players to operate more as inside-forwards (see what I mean about everything coming back into fashion?), Marsch diminished them.

But the 2-1 win Leeds's latest coach, Javi Gracia, masterminded over Nottingham Forest on Tuesday was built on wingers.

It was not just that Harrison and Sinisterra scored the goals – not making them instead might point to more anti-winger thinking – it was that Leeds were constantly threatening down the flanks through both.

They were so good there could be as many grumbles if the outstanding Gnonto returns to the starting line-up on Easter Sunday as if not.

In a very odd episode just over two months ago, Leeds seemed to signal Harrison was expendable.

Even though Marsch often spoke glowingly about and regularly picked a player he knew from their time at rival New York clubs, who seemed to adapt to him better than some, and despite backtracking in his next press conference, on January's deadline day, Harrison was allowed to discuss a permanent transfer to Leicester City.

Exactly what happened is still the subject of conjecture but we know this: Harrison is still a Leeds player. On Thursday he signed the contract Marsch said was floated to persuade him against leaving. If he sees it out he will be in testimonial territory.

After his brilliant midweek display, scoring a third goal in four matches, Harrison spoke of trying to take more responsibility to drag his team out of relegation trouble.

"There are different leaders and different characters," explains Gracia, when asked where Harrison fits into that. "Some speak more, others don't speak too much but the way they play on the pitch says a lot.

"We have a good balance and I am very happy with Jack because he is always an example with the way he plays and trains. He has very good behaviour with the rest of the group, trying to help young players.

"Everything I have to say about Jack is good."

Harrison has had no special treatment to get to this point.

"I've done nothing different to the others," says Gracia. "I try to speak with all my players because it's my job to try to help them to improve.

"Jack is keeping a high level – assisting, scoring, working a lot for the team. He always has the desire to improve."

If Harrison – the 26-year-old uncapped Englishman fast becoming part of the Elland Road furniture – is the more bread-and-butter winger, Sinisterra – the 23-year-old Colombia international who caught the eye with Feyenoord in last season's Europa League – was signed as the bums-off-seats, queues-outside-the-ticket-office player but an injury-hit first season means it has not panned out that way.

Tuesday night’s display against Forest hinted it might still be to come, however.

"I expect always more from my players," says Gracia, matter-of-factly. "Luis Sinisterra had a long time out injured and for sure he can improve but in the last game he played a high level.

"He can improve in every aspect. He can score more goals, he can assist more, he can defend better but he is doing many things well after a long time injured.”

And there are more to come. Gnonto and Summerville were the exciting bright points of an otherwise disappointing autumn.

"All of them in different games have played very well," stresses Gracia. "It's something I'm proud of because it means I can choose different ways to play.

"In the last game we started with Jack on the right and Luis on the left and I think they were the best options to attack, to find the spaces in that game.

"But if I choose other players we are going to keep a very good level.

"It's not easy but I try to choose the best players for every single game. I'm always thinking about what is the best for the game."

And exciting wingers are surely good for the game.