Marcelo Bielsa has backed Kiko Casilla to firmly leave his performance against Derby County in last season's play-offs behind him when Leeds United host the Rams this weekend.
The Whites welcome the Rams to Elland Road for the first time since the pair’s ill-fated end-of-season clash in May when the visitors overturned a first-leg deficit to dash United’s dreams of Wembley.
Goalkeeper Casilla, who arrived in January as a senior option ahead of Bailey Peacock-Farrell, suffered a difficult evening against Derby who took full advantage of a couple of high-profile errors to come back and seal a 4-2 win on the night to secure an aggregate victory which sent them to Wembley.
Since then however, the Spaniard has bounced back in imperious form with a string of excellent performances to start the new season, conceding just three goals in the Championship and making six saves alone against Barnsley last weekend.
Speaking at his pre-match press conference ahead of Derby’s visit, Bielsa stated that he feels the former Real Madrid man is not feeling any undue pressure ahead of a much-anticipated rematch with County.
In addition, the Argentine added that he feels the shotstopper’s game to forget four months ago will have no impact on how he plays on Saturday.
“Kiko has a solid character,” the 64-year-old stated. “I can’t imagine his performance will be linked to his last game against Derby.”
Leeds will be without Adam Forshaw again for the clash with the Rams, though Tyler Roberts is expected to feature in the matchday squad again.
They returned to the top of the Championship following the international break with victory at Oakwell on Sunday, with Eddie Nketiah and Mateusz Klich providing the goals in a 2-0 win.
