Leeds United appear to have dropped a major selection hint ahead of this weekend’s Sky Bet Championship clash against Nottingham Forest.
The Reds take on the Whites at the City Ground on Saturday in the 5.30pm kick-off, with both clubs desperate for all three points.
Both Forest and Leeds are fighting for promotion to the Premier League, with Sabri Lamouchi’s side currently in fourth place in the Championship table.
’s men are four points ahead of Forest in second place, and currently occupy the final automatic promotion spot.
There has been plenty of talk about whether Bielsa will include January signing Jean-Kevin Augustin for the first time since his arrival from Red Bull Leipzig.
The striker didn’t feature for the first-team against Wigan at the weekend, and played 45 minutes for the under-23s in the week.
With the game less than 24 hours away, the striker was selected for Leeds’ under-23 side in their Premier League Cup clash against Derby County on Friday night.
This would mean it highly unlikely that Augustin will be involved against Forest on Trentside on Saturday.
“Augustin is a player with a lot of impact,” said Bielsa, about Augustin, earlier this week.
“He has a lot of skills, resources. You can realise about that for how much he goes, how much he was sold and bought for and the teams he played for.
“But Kevin, in the last eight months played three full matches.
“So when one player in this period plays just three full matches the conclusion about his fitness levels is clear.
“The players who arrive here are going to play if they are better than the players that are playing.
“I am very confident in Augustin’s qualities and skills. I think he’s a player with great, great skills.
“But in football and even more on one league like the Championship that is maybe the fifth or sixth best in the world, you’re not going to arrive and play without being at the ideal level.
“If Augustin gets to play in 70% of his skills, it is going to be enough for him to play here. But if he can just use 50% of his skills, it’s not going to be enough. He competes with Bamford and Roberts.
“It’s very easy to criticise Bamford for missing chances. He’s scored 12 times and he has ups and downs.”
