Here are your latest Leeds United evening headlines for Sunday, March 5.
Tony Mowbray makes striker admission amid Joe Gelhardt's Sunderland loan
Tony Mowbray is concerned by the lack of height in his attack after Sunderland were condemned to a humiliating 5-1 defeat against Stoke City at the Stadium of Light on Saturday.
Joe Gelhardt endured a difficult afternoon and was withdrawn at half-time. The Leeds United loanee has netted once in seven league games for Sunderland, but has been handed the unenviable task of replacing the talismanic Ross Stewart.
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Stewart had scored 10 goals in 13 Championship games before he was ruled out for the remainder of the season with an Achilles injury. Mowbray admitted that Stewart's absence has left Sunderland without a target man.
“If Ross Stewart was fit we would undoubtedly have looked to play a long ball against Stoke. If you play long balls they can’t press. We know that," Mowbray admitted via the Northern Echo.
“We have Gelhardt at 5ft 7, Patrick Roberts at 5ft 6, Jack Clarke who is not a header of the ball. We haven’t got a target. We have to find a way to score goals. We prepare next week for Norwich.
"Before last week, it had been October since we lost an away game. We know it’s a tough task to go to Norwich, they will try to play with the ball.
“We keep going with this team and try to improve them, be brave. The next window comes along and we must look to make sure we get Plan B. Then you can go over the top, drop diagonals over their press. At the minute it doesn’t feel like we have that option.”
Leeds United's plan A and plan B at Chelsea sum up overdependence on absent influence
Javi Gracia cut a frustrated figure as he sat down in front of the press at Stamford Bridge on Saturday evening. The Spanish head coach insisted he was proud of Leeds United’s attitude in their 1-0 loss to Chelsea but he did voice his concerns about their fortunes in front of goal and it’s clear he has work to do to get his side firing on all cylinders.
The Whites flattered to deceive in attacking areas as they failed to trouble Chelsea’s towering backline and ultimately, that cost them dear. They mustered just two shots on target throughout the contest in west London and, remarkably, one of those came from goalkeeper Illan Meslier in the final moments of the game.
For the most part Kepa Arrizabalaga was allowed to keep his gloves clean as Leeds not only proved toothless in front of goal, they struggled to find clear cut openings at all against Graham Potter’s side. That’s not a new problem either for United, who have worryingly made a habit of misfiring of late.
Leeds United supporters ratings as trio handed woeful verdict after Chelsea defeat
Leeds United trio Brenden Aaronson, Georginio Rutter and Jack Harrison were handed woeful ratings by the supporters after Saturday's 1-0 defeat at Chelsea.
Harrison received the lowest score of just 3.5 after failing to make an impact in the final third before being replaced by Sam Greenwood for the final 10 minutes. Rutter was handed his full Premier League debut and was given the second lowest score with a dismal rating of 4.1. Aaronson continued his poor run of form and was handed a score of 4.3.
Illan Meslier, Robin Koch and Max Wober were the standout performers for Leeds fans with all three receiving a 6.4 rating.
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