Javi Gracia oversaw Leeds United’s return to winning ways on Saturday as the Whites beat Wolves 4-2 at Molineux.
Leeds took a first-half lead through Jack Harrison and strolled to a 3-0 advantage shortly after half-time through Luke Ayling and Rasmus Kristensen.
Jonny and Matheus Cunha led the fightback for Wolves, though, pulling the scoreline back to 3-2 before Jonny’s late red card killed some momentum.
Rodrigo wrapped up the points for Leeds with a lifted finish during a heated injury-time.
Gracia was, naturally, delighted with Leeds’ win and went into depth about that in his post-match interview.
Here, though, we pick out TWO key things he said about two of Leeds’ most important players.
When will Rodrigo be fully fit?
Rodrigo Moreno has made cameo appearances off the bench in Leeds’ last two fixtures against Brighton and Wolves.
Obviously at Molineux he got back amongst the goals, lifting in his 13th goal of the season in all competitions to wrap up the points.
A leg/ankle fracture had robbed Leeds of Rodrigo’s service over February and it’s been great to see him fit in the last week or so.
“Rodrigo has always been a key player for this club and I think he will be in the future as well. Now we are trying to recover his best condition because he needed to work today, play only a part of the last game as well. 50 minutes no more, then 50 minutes and day by day I think he’s going to improve and but you can see the quality in playing. Even playing 30 minutes.”
Gracia said, via Leeds Live.
The international break, then, has come at a good time for Leeds as they build-up Rodrigo’s fitness again.
“We need to work with him, it is one of the targets we have for the next two weeks. I cannot tell you if for the next game he will be ready to complete 90 minutes but for sure he’s going to improve.”
Gracia said, via Leeds Live.
Can Rodrigo's goals keep Leeds up?
Yes
No
Does Jack Harrison have a Leeds future?
A lot is being made of Harrison’s future right now after a failed move to Leicester City and talk of a new contract.
However, the winger is starting to knuckle down some consistency again, scoring twice and registering two assists in four Premier League games under Gracia.
On Saturday at Wolves he was excellent, opening the scoring and involving himself in the build-up to Kristensen’s goal.
Post-match, Gracia talked up Harrison’s role in the here-and-now, as well as the future.
“Very happy with him. Because he’s a player that can play in different positions always is playing well. Last game he scored an amazing goal for us and always is ready to play on the right side, on the left side, playing with three in the middle, in different positions and always in my opinion at a high level. This is the kind of players I think we have to take care of because they are the present and the future of the club.”
Gracia said, via Leeds Live.