Aston Villa v Leeds United: Marcelo Bielsa and Whites bolstered by return of three players

It is one of his many admirable qualities.

His Leeds United side – depleted in terms of options – found a way to beat Burnley and West Ham, but hit a cul-de-sac against Newcastle United last time out in their other Premier League match so far in 2022.

A winter hiatus between games means that Adam Forshaw, Jamie Shackleton and Charlie Cresswell are back in the fray for tonight’s trip to Aston Villa, but three ‘big-hitters’ and senior players in Patrick Bamford, Kalvin Phillips and Liam Cooper remain absent.

Squad selection and availability continues to affect Leeds more than most and it has been an ongoing aspect of a testing second season back in the big time.

Bielsa, commendably, will continue to deal with the cards he is dealt with.

The Argentine said: “When (Luke) Ayling wasn’t here, (Stuart) Dallas played. When (Diego) Llorente wasn’t here, Ayling played.

“When (Junior) Firpo wasn’t here, (Pascal) Struijk played.

“When Phillips wasn’t here, (Robin) Koch or Pascal played. Raphinha, (Dan) James and (Jack) Harrison haven’t been out, and when Bamford hasn’t been here, Rodrigo, James or Tyler (Roberts) have played.

“(Joe) Gelhardt and (Leo) Hjelde have been the youngsters with consistent minutes and Shackleton has also been an option. Of course I would have hoped that we didn’t have the problems, but the team also found the solutions.

“Because some results are poor, everything is made bigger and with respect to the injuries, any analysis that is made I don’t want to have an opinion because when you’re going through a sporting moment which is negative, everything you say is read as an excuse.

“Shackleton, Forshaw and Cresswell are all healthy now. The four players we still don’t count on are Firpo, who should be available this weekend (but) because his injury involved his tendon, we may be cautious with his return,

“Cooper and Phillips should be recovered by the beginning of March. Bamford has an injury we cannot predict when he will return. It depends on the pain going away, so he can start jogging again.

“Since the injury started the pain hasn’t gone away. Of course, he is going through the demanding treatments for the injury he has.”

Bielsa must decide whether to persist with Dan James as an auxiliary centre-forward or go with other options from the start such as Gelhardt, who came on late against Newcastle United last time out.

After tonight’s game, Leeds have a quick turnaround and take the field less than 72 hours later against Everton at Goodison Park in Frank Lampard’s first home league game in charge of the Toffees.

Lampard’s long-time England team-mate Gerrard has made a pretty seamless start to life at Villa Park, winning an impressive five out of 10 league games at the helm so far.

It will be the first time Gerrard has managed a team against Leeds after the December 28 clash at Elland Road was called off because of the coronavirus outbreaks sweeping across top-flight teams.

Bielsa commented: “In Scotland, he had a brilliant step. What he has managed this far at Aston Villa is good because he has put his stamp on the team very quickly.”

Last six games: Aston Villa WLLLDW; Leeds LLWLWL.

Referee: J Gillett (Merseyside).

Last time: Aston Villa 0 Leeds 3, October 23, 2020; Premier League.