Caleb EkubanCaleb Ekuban

Misfiring Ekuban earns high marks in Aston Villa deadlock

Caleb Ekuban may have failed to score once again as Leeds United held Aston Villa to a 1-1 stalemate in the English Championship on Friday but the Italian-born of Ghanaian descent did quite enough to make an impression on manager Thomas Christiansen.

On his second start since returning from a three-month injury layoff, the 23-year-old lasted for 83 minutes as Pontus Jansson and Henri Lansbury cancelled out each other at Elland Road.

"I was happy with his performance, he didn't score, he made a good work for the team," Christiansen said, as reported by ChannelRonline.

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"He created some good situations for his team-mates and that was important for me.

"A good part of the win also came through his work and the rest of the players."

Whereas Ekuban continues to prove his quality with each passing game, the striker has conspicuously struggled to find the back of the net.

The situation is indeed worrying, but Christiansen believes the forward will eventually improve in that regard.

"Well, I believe he's a player who is hungry to come out, to do a good performance," opined, the Whites' boss.

“He works for the team, puts himself in front of the team to make a good pressure, to force the opponent to do mistakes and to don't think with the ball and after he has good combination with his teammates.

“The only thing we need is that he makes some goals but that will come also with the time.

"He has a lot to improve on, everyone should improve because we still have a young team."

Ekuban, who joined Leeds in July, has made five championship appearances thus far.

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