Marcelo Bielsa insists the small squad is not a reason for Leeds’ struggles

Marcelo Bielsa remains adamant that injuries to key players and the small size of his squad are not the reason for his side’s poor results.

Leeds are looking to avoid a sixth Premier League defeat of the season at Brighton on Saturday, which could see them slip back into the bottom three.

Whites fans urged the club to strengthen in January, but Bielsa insists the blame is his own and the transfer window does not hold the answers.

“To sum up, I think the club has put in enough human resources for the results to be different,” he said. “I cannot attribute the position in the table, nor the injuries, to an insufficient number of players.

“Obviously what’s left is the management of the players I have and I think that’s where the focus is.”

Leeds pair Raphinha and Rodrigo are again in contention for Saturday night’s start at Brighton.

Brazil winger Raphinha missed last week through illness and Spanish striker Rodrigo was absent with a foot injury as a depleted Leeds side lost 2-1 at Tottenham.

Jamie Shackleton has also recovered from injury and is available for Bielsa, who confirmed that Patrick Bamford, Robin Koch and Luke Ayling are not yet ready for first-team action.

Bielsa said: “Shackleton is available, Raphinha is available, Rodrigo is available, Ayling is healthy – it’s likely he will play with the under-23s on Monday.

“The only two players in the final recovery period are Koch and Bamford, who has an ankle injury. It was a serious injury.”

Leeds were without six regular starters at Tottenham and seven of their nine substitutes were under-23s with almost no first-team experience.

But Bielsa claimed his preference for an 18-man squad, complemented by the club’s biggest academy players, allowed the likes of Joe Gelhardt and Charlie Cresswell to develop.

The Argentine said working with a limited number of first-team players had also encouraged the likes of Kalvin Phillips, Stuart Dallas, Pascal Struijk and Ayling to thrive in different positions.

“Of course, when I make these observations, I always measure what the audience and you thought of their performances,” he added.

He referred to the “many signings” of his time in charge at Elland Road, listing Rodrigo, Dan James, Raphinha, Diego Llorente, Junior Firpo and Koch.

Bielsa added: “Not bringing in more players allowed Gelhardt to express himself and the absences of Raphinha and (Jack) Harrison were covered by (Crysencio) Summerville and James and always with the acceptance of the public and the media.

“So I have to see if we really have to adhere to these demands for (new) signings or keep the same players and be patient.”

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