Right-back is where Jesse Marsch has one of his biggest decisions to make in the coming weeks. Leeds United have three options vying for pitch time in Luke Ayling, Cody Drameh and Rasmus Kristensen. Kristensen missed out on Saturday’s loss at Brentford through injury and it remains to be seen how quickly he returns to contention. In his absence, Drameh performed well at very short notice in his second Premier League start, while Ayling reminded everyone of his quality in a 21-minute cameo from the bench. Drameh will be hoping he did enough in his 70 minutes in Hounslow to retain a slot in Marsch’s line-up. After the game, the
Jesse Marsch said: “Rasmus picked up the injury right at the end of training, so Cody didn’t have much time to prepare. For the most part, Cody did okay. It’s another opportunity with him being on the pitch that will work with him on certain tactical details on what his role is, but overall it was okay.”
Last month, ahead of the closure of the transfer window, Marsch spoke more about Drameh’s situation. The head coach discussed why the full-back was likely to remain at Elland Road rather than go out on loan again.
Jesse Marsch said: “He’s doing great. Cody and I had some tough conversations at the end of last year when we had him in for training. He had a very good experience at Cardiff and in his mind, maybe wanted to stay there. I challenged him to think about challenging himself to be here. It was really good he got games, he was playing well and I watched, not every game, but I got highlights of most of his games and I watched a lot of his actions. Over time he’s enjoyed being here and in there he has played good football and with him, they kind of go hand in hand. The key for him is to not need the enjoyment and need more of the drive to be the best he can possibly be and get out of his comfort zone, which he did by going to Cardiff, but challenge himself at a high level to really maximise who he can be every day. He’s done that in a big way. It’s been a pleasure. I’ve seen him grow a lot in the last weeks. He’s performed well within the team. He’s fit well within the team.”
There is clearly a plan around Drameh’s development and a show of faith from Marsch in playing the former Fulham man last weekend. Time will tell whether he gets another opportunity when the Whites next play.
