Leeds United goalkeeper Illan Meslier was seriously impressed with defender Pascal Struijk last night.
The Dutch defender took to social media to celebrate a hard-earned point against Hull City at the MKM Stadium.
Leeds boss Daniel Farke would have liked to continue his side’s winning ways against their Yorkshire rivals.
Hull have also started the season well and currently sit in the final playoff spot.
Both sides had lost just once in the league going into the game and have proven very tough to beat already this season.
Teams tend to earn promotion from the Championship when they’ve got a brilliant goal scorer, but a solid defence doesn’t go amiss either.
In Illan Meslier and Pascal Struijk, Leeds manager Daniel Farke appears to have given two players who lacked confidence last season a new lease of life.
The pair were instrumental in Farke’s side earning a point last night after going down to ten men after an hour.
Although Joe Rodon’s sending off was very harsh, the team reacted well and will be disappointed they didn’t come away from the match with three points.
Meslier hails Struijk after Leeds draw
The 24-year-old defender took to Instagram after the game and said: “Stalemate. Hard-earned clean sheet.”
The tone of Struijk’s message suggests he wasn’t overly pleased with the result, but Meslier was on hand to praise his centre-back and replied: “Class bro.”
Struijk has been a valuable asset for Leeds since his breakthrough season in 2020.
After barely featuring in the Championship under Marcelo Bielsa, he was given his chance to shine in the Premier League.
Struijk’s versatility has proved incredibly useful, although under Farke’s he’s finally settled into a centre-back role.
Meslier is another player who has been given another lease of life under Farke and with Struijk in front of him will hope they can lead Leeds back to the top flight.
It’s a very long season though and anything can happen between now and May.
Leeds have been told they could now make a big profit on Struijk, which may appeal if they don’t achieve promotion this season.
However, he’s likely to be a very important player in whichever league Leeds are in next season.