A day after Marcelo Bielsa launched an impassioned 25-minute defence of his stance regarding Jean-Kevin Augustin's adaptation into his Leeds United side, the young French striker was handed another chance to get some minutes under his belt in the under-23s on Friday night.
A 45-minute run-out in a 2-2 draw against Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough on Monday had asked more questions than it answered.
Was the new Leeds man out of shape? Did he pick up an injury? And where were the thumping finishes his YouTube highlight reels promised?
Bielsa came into Thursday press conference determined to answer the critics who believe that Augustin ‘should just be thrown on’ and the supporters who took the time to listen, read and absorb what he said over the course of 59 often tense minutes at Thorp Arch will not have been surprised to have seen his name on the Bootham Crescent teamsheet.
Leeds were up against a Derby side that had dismantled them 7-1 back in November, but Augustin was joined by Kalvin Phillips and Barry Douglas in the starting XI and another thrashing was never on the cards.
Augustin had plenty of eyes on him, with almost 900 fans turning up at York City’s ground and plenty more watching from home.
So what did they see?
Truth be told, not a lot.
Augustin was on the fringes of the game for long periods as Leeds were unable to provide him with any clear cut chances.
We saw some promising chasing down as early as the second minute, as he applied pressure on the Derby goalkeeper, who promptly put the ball out of play.
Two minutes later a decent ball over the top from Phillips was cleared just before it made its way through to Augustin, but he did look to be getting in the right positions.
In the sixth minute he was able get the ball in a promising position on the left, turn his man inside the box and loft a cross from the byline, but no-one was there to take advantage.
So far, so good, but Derby would then take hold of the Premier League Cup tie and Augustin would become staved of services. The 22-year-old came to the halfway line to try and take down the odd speculative clearance, but was well marked and had few options.
His only shot on target came with ten minutes of the half and even then, it’s generous to call it even a half-chance. Again, he found himself on the halfway line, as he took a touch, saw the goalkeeper off his line and had a pop. He didn’t get enough on the ball and Yates was able to take a couple of steps backwards and easily catch the ball.
It was either a show of great confidence, or of frustration from the Frenchman. Either way, it didn’t come off.
Leeds would pull a goal back just before the break and here was perhaps proof that Augustin’s sharpness is not what it could be, as he found himself in front of goal as a superb low Joe Stanley cross came into the area, but was unable to stretch and reach the ball. Luckily for Leeds, Theo Hudson was there to tap home at the far post.
Augustin then cut a frustrated figure in stoppage time, raising his hands and gesturing to the referee as Yates took an age to take a goalkick. You’ll remember he tweeted something similar after watching Leeds’ 3-2 win over Millwall. The half-time whistle actually sounded as a ball was played over the top to him, which may have given us a glimpse of what he can do, given some service.
The plan was no doubt to only give him 45 minutes from the get-go, so that was that.
Aside from the individual moments, Augustin appeared to be a willing runner and it was easy to see how much he wanted the ball. He was playing on the shoulder of the defender and has obviously been told to chase defenders and the goalkeeper down.
Ultimately, the lack of service meant that we didn’t get many clues as to what a fit and firing Augustin will look like in a Leeds United shirt on an evening where Bielsa can feel justified that his detailed explanation on Augustin’s current status is correct.
