Leeds United have needed the almost the entirety of the squad to contribute to their mammoth of a promotion push this season.
In the eyes of Ipswich Town boss Kieran McKenna, this has been the highest standard ever seen in a Championship promotion race, and given the points tallies, it is hard to disagree.
Leeds currently second in the table on 90 points from their 44 matches, and yet still do not have automatic promotion in their own hands as Ipswich have a game in hand.
But in order to match the consistency of those around them, Leeds have needed different players across the pitch at various points of the season to contribute.
Clear examples of this include Patrick Bamford, Willy Gnonto, Junior Firpo and Ilia Gruev, who have all come to the fore in recent months having been bit-part players over the first half of the season.
Hay says Junior Firpo has enjoyed an underrated season for Leeds
Crysencio Summerville, Georginio Rutter, Joe Rodon, Ethan Ampadu and Archie Gray are the five players who have predominantly stole the headlines this season.
Four of that quintet were actually recognised for their performances at the recent EFL awards ceremony, with Summerville and Gray scooping the Championship’s Player and Young Player of the Season respectively and Rutter and Ampadu also joining the former in the Team of the Season.
But speaking on the latest episode of the Square Ball Podcast, Athletic journalist Phil Hay believes the contribution of Firpo in this second half of the season is one that cannot go unnoticed.
Firpo spent the final few months of 2023 on the sidelines but since coming into the team over the turn of the New Year, has the most open play assist in the Championship across this calendar year, with seven.
Though Hay still recognises Firpo as a ‘poor signing’ on the whole, he thinks the £12.8 million man has actually been ‘crucial’ to Leeds’ form in recent months.
He said: “Leeds are tailor-made for those sort of circumstances because of Gnonto, Summerville and because of Firpo playing as a centre-forward as he somehow was in that moment. I am not being funny about Firpo, I still see it as a poor signing in terms of value for money.
“He was signed for the Premier League when Leeds finished ninth and were nominally trying to build and get stronger, though we’ve spoken about that transfer window many times. He was not at all good in the Premier League, but has come up with assist after assist in this half of the season.
“When you tell the story of how it has gone if Leeds go up, you are not going to be able to exclude his contribution because it has been pretty crucial.”
Firpo in best form of Leeds career
Despite being only 27 himself, Firpo is actually one of the most experienced members of Leeds’ squad and that will be crucial in this run-in.
He showed his ability to handle the pressure last time out at Middlesbrough, as he produced arguably his best performance in a Leeds shirt, with two assists.
Players such as Mateo Joseph have spoken about how important he is behind-the-scenes, and helping Leeds to promotion would be the biggest redemption arc for Firpo after how his first two seasons went.