BBC pundit Noel Whelan expects Pablo Hernandez’s injury to be a huge blow for Leeds United when we face Preston North End, and leave Marcelo Bielsa chasing solutions.
We welcome Preston to West Yorkshire on Boxing Day looking to bounce back from defeat at Fulham, where we also lost Hernandez for the foreseeable with the Spaniard expected to be out for a month with a hamstring injury.
Hernandez was forced off after just three minutes at Craven Cottage and replaced by Ezgjan Alioski, who will remain in the line-up at home to Preston with Stuart Dallas moving into midfield.
But Whelan is certain that Alioski and Dallas will not be able to offer the same level of quality as Hernandez can, as the former Valencia and Swansea City star is irreplaceable in Bielsa’s plans and will leave the boss scratching his head on Boxing Day.
“He’s going to be a huge miss,” Whelan told Football Insider. “You can’t replace a Pablo Hernandez, there’s no player in that team that has the same sort of quality. He’s got something that other players don’t have.
What will the result be vs Preston on Boxing Day?
Whites win
Draw
Preston win
“Jamie Shackleton said that to me when I was interviewing him. He said he sees things other players don’t and it’s true.
“He’s got a special ability to find that pass, that weight of pass into someone’s feet, that opportunity. He’s going to be sorely missed.
“Alioski came on [against Fulham], he seems to enjoy that central part as well but it’s a headache for Marcelo Bielsa.”
Hernandez was making his 15th start of the season when featuring at Craven Cottage on Saturday, having been forced to sit out six games earlier in the campaign as a result of muscle and hamstring issues.
Since making his return from the bench at home to QPR in November, the 34-year-old struck his third goal of the term and penned his third and fourth assists – one fewer than winger Jack Harrison has managed across the Championship season.
In other Leeds United news, a second club have entered the race to land a 5 ft 6 Whites man in January.