James Trafford praises 'brilliant' Leeds United teammate after starting-XI return vs Sunderland

Leeds United goalkeeper James Trafford praised Jaka Bijol for a ‘brilliant’ return to the starting-XI after the pair kept a clean sheet at Sunderland.

Bijol, a nailed on starter for the majority of last season, hadn’t started a Premier League game since August after being unable to displace impressive summer arrival Elvedi in the heart of defence. But with the Swiss international out ill, an opportunity arrived at the Stadium of Light.

Trafford had to bail Bijol out after a shaky start handed Brian Brobbey an early chance but after settling down, the centre-back enjoyed a solid performance. His 15 defensive contributions were more than anyone else in yellow and crucial for the keeping of a clean sheet.

“Yeah, the lads that came in were brilliant,” Trafford told the YEP. “Jaka was brilliant. Harry [Wilson] and Brenden [Aaronson] were, everyone was brilliant that came in. Even Noah [Okafor] and Anton [Stach], when they came on, were brilliant.

“It just shows the strength in the squad that whoever plays can put in a great performance. We're very strong defensively. It's not just the back five or the two in front. It's everyone as a collective.

“Jaka started the first two Prem games and he hasn't started since. But he's trained amazingly so when he performs like that today, it's not a surprise.”

Good performances from Trafford and Bijol were particularly important given the lack of attacking spark at Sunderland. Swirling winds didn’t help but once again, Leeds struggled to click in the final third.

Alongside Bijol, Aaronson and Wilson came into the line-up but neither made a serious claim for a long-term starting spot. Leeds’ best two chances came through late substitute Sean Longstaff, who had one shot saved by Robin Roefs and an added-time stab blocked by teammate Lukas Nmecha.

“Quite disappointed,” Trafford admitted of the end result. “We wanted the win. We believe we should have and could have won, and that's just every day we're trying to improve to try and win these types of games.

“It was obviously a tough game, but we felt we did enough to win. And another day we do win. It's one of them. Obviously, we wanted to win. We would be in a great position if we did win, and we believe we should have won.

“But it's one of them. We didn't get beat. There's a lot of positives to take and a lot of things to improve on.”