Leeds United have a number of candidates for their player of the season award in the coming weeks.
Though there still remains a long way to go to securing automatic promotion, Leeds have been incredibly consistent pretty much all season and sit second in the table on 86 points from 40 matches.
The foundations of Leeds’ success has very much been built on the defensive side of the game, having conceded the lowest number of goals across the division with just 31.
Ethan Ampadu and Joe Rodon will both be in with a shout for Leeds’ POTS due to their incredible record alongside each other, but at the same time, the quality in attack cannot be forgotten.
Daniel Farke’s squad possesses three players in double figures for goals, as well as the Championship’s second highest assister, with contributions coming from across the whole front four.
EFL pundit says 26-year-old Leeds player has enjoyed such an underrated season
Crysencio Summerville and Georginio Rutter are very much the players who have taken the majority of the headlines for their performances this season.
Summerville has an impressive 17 goals and eight assists so far, with Rutter the driving force creatively with six and 15. In recent weeks, Willy Gnonto has also been winning plenty of praise.
However, speaking on the latest episode of the ‘What the EFL Podcast’, pundit Sam Parkin believes there is another player from Leeds’ attack who has actually gone under the radar in Dan James.
He said: “He is in brilliant form and this has crept up on me a little bit. Maybe because we’ve spoken about Summerville, Gnonto and Rutter so frequently this season. He is up to 20 goal contributions, three in his last five.
“Over the last 13 games he has six goals and three assists. He is bang in form and I thought it was a brilliant goal. I didn’t fancy him when he was breaking, because of the angle and side foot. Really difficult, he gets there because of his pace but it was an incredible goal to alleviate any pressure.”
James has enjoyed best season of career at Leeds
James had never hit more than four goals in a single season prior to this year and so to have already amassed 13 shows how much his end product has improved.
Summerville is actually the only out and out winger in the Championship who has contributed to more goals, though you could argue Plymouth Argyle’s Morgan Whittaker has spent most of the campaign out wide.
Either way, this has undoubtedly been the best season of James’ career to date and he even admitted it himself in an interview last month.
He said: “Yeah. Obviously, I want to try and give as much as I can to the team. Consistency of games helps a lot. Having a manager that believes in you and players that understand your game. Everyone has moulded this season. It’s been great and I’ve really enjoyed it,”