Leeds United comfortably secured their place in the third round of the EFL Cup on Wednesday, with a 3-1 win over Barnsley at Elland Road.
A stunning first Leeds goal for Luis Sinisterra, and a penalty from Mateusz Klich gave Leeds a comfortable 2-0 lead just past the half-hour mark, before Mads Andersen pulled one back for the visitors.
But a second for Klich ten minutes after half time made the game, and means Jesse Marsch’s side to a trip to Wolves in the next round of the competition.
So what impact could that win over Barnsley have on the Leeds squad going forward?
We’ve taken a look at two potential knock-on effects of Wednesday night’s result on Jesse Marsch’s side, right here.
Fresh hope for Klich’s Leeds future
So far this summer, Mateusz Klich’s future at Elland Road has been far from certain, with reports earlier in the month suggesting the midfielder may need to leave Leeds for game time, in order to secure his place in Poland’s World Cup squad.
But despite that, the midfielder was in outstanding form on Wednesday, both with his two goals and all round performance, in what was his first competitive start of the campaign, a reminder of both his ability, and commitment to the Leeds cause.
That is something that may well serve to boost Klich’s chances of more regular game time in the league as well, something that could well tempt the midfielder to stay given the strong connection he appears to have Leeds, something that would surely go down well with supporters too.
Scope for defensive rotation
So far this season, Leeds’ central defensive pairing has been a consistent one, with Diego Llorente and Robin Koch playing every minute of the Premier League campaign so far.
That would change on Wednesday night in the cup though, with Llorente partnered by Liam Cooper in the starting XI, as the club captain continues his road to recovery from injury, before the duo were replaced by Koch and Pascal Struijk at half time.
With Cooper now taking that next step back into competitive football, that does give Marsch another option to choose from going forward, though he will no doubt want to be careful with the Scotsman, meaning there could be more changes to come in that defensive line, over the coming weeks.