Leeds United manager Marcelo Bielsa has confirmed that Pablo Hernandez will not be available to play in the Yorkshire club’s upcoming Premier League clash with Manchester City at the weekend.
This comes after Bielsa recently spoke to the media in his latest press conference ahead of the match against Pep Guardiola’s side.
During the press conference, Bielsa had this to say on Hernandez and how his absence will affect the team in their match against City.
He said: “Pablo is a very important player for our offensive game. More than his experience, he brings a lot of creativity to the side and not having him means that we will be slightly less creative.”
Hernandez was withdrawn from Leeds’ squad after picking up a groin injury in their pre-match warm-up against Fulham last month and was it claimed that he would be out of action for two weeks.
Leeds signed the Spaniard on a free transfer from Al-Arabi SC back in January 2017 after he originally joined the club on loan in August 2016.
Overall, the 35-year-old has made 159 appearances for Leeds in which he has scored 36 goals and provided 39 assists along the way (per Transfermarkt).
Last season in the Championship, Hernandez was one of Leeds’ best players after earning himself a season rating of 7.22/10 for his performances in the 36 league appearances he made for the club.
Looking ahead to Leeds’ match against the Manchester club, it’s a shame that Hernandez won’t be fit enough to play a part in the game. It’ll be interesting to see if Leeds struggle to create goalscoring chances against City as a result of Hernandez’s absence or not, as Bielsa said in his press conference.
