Ghost of Leeds United future moves January transfer conversation forward - Graham Smyth's Verdict

This wasn't the first time this season that Leeds have found themselves facing a wall and struggled to go around it, over it or through it. Some haven't been too successful at parking the bus and Leeds have dealt with those sides handily - think Huddersfield Town at home - but some have and the way Sunderland did it felt textbook enough to become a blueprint, which is a worry that cannot be ignored.

When it came to his pre-match selection conundrum, Daniel Farke elected to put Djed Spence in at left-back to fill the hole created by hamstring injuries to Sam Byram and Junior Firpo, trusting Archie Gray to do the job at right-back against the nightmarish Jack Clarke. There were times in the first half, particularly after the 17-year-old was baited into a yellow-card worthy foul and Clarke was running at him every chance he got, that this seemed to be Farke's biggest problem to overcome. At half-time, a swapping of full-backs to keep Gray on the pitch and let Spence have a go at Clarke would have felt like a safe and reasonable response.

This situation did not bring about Leeds' downfall at the Stadium of Light, though, because Gray recovered sufficiently and while he had to play within himself when his side had the ball, he was not Farke's biggest issue. Nor was Spence, who admittedly was careless once or twice but still managed to show glimpses of his undoubted talent. Sunderland's second half goal that won the game did not shine a poor light on any one Leeds player or aspect of their defensive play - Pascal Struijk's initial header was not into a great area but he defended a difficult cross and Alex Pritchard just happened to get his head in the way, to catch everyone out bar Jobe Bellingham. There was nothing in that sequence of play that screamed blame or set off alarm bells, it was a scrappy goal with a hint of freakishness to it.

What concerned, when it came to this game was how an early Crysencio Summerville free-kick and a late Joel Piroe stab at goal were about the height of it for Leeds in terms of chances created. Possession was not a problem, nor was territory but Sunderland dropped in behind the ball, said 'go on, play through us' and Leeds did not really have a response.

After the game Farke was not inclined to criticise his players. He credited Sunderland for their defensive effort, though used the phrase 'parking the bus' enough times that local journalists could not help but pick up on it and feed it back to Black Cats interim boss Mike Dodds. It was Dodds' job to make life difficult for Leeds and he managed it. However he opted to go about it, it was Farke's job to find a solution and one was not forthcoming. When it was put to Farke that Summerville's frustration appeared to be that Leeds were not playing quickly enough to find a way through, the Leeds boss spoke of difficulty arising from the playing surface. Though the ball moved quickly enough when Sunderland wanted to counter attack. He also brought up Summerville's decision not to go to ground when he felt a shirt tug when clean through. This was ifs, buts and maybes territory.

The frustration for away fans on Tuesday night was not found in the makeshift left-back or the makeshift right-back, it was not in Sunderland's tactical approach, the quality of the surface or refereeing decisions that could have changed the game. It was at the top end of the pitch. It was in watching players, very skilled players, players who have torn other teams apart, struggling to do much more than shift the ball left and right, or coughing up possession through heavy touches and slightly inaccurate passes. If it was just an off night for Georginio Rutter, then Piroe, Summerville and Daniel James would still ordinarily have carried sufficient threat, but none of that in-form and recently deadly quartet were bang at it. This happens, they're not robots after all, yet when it became clear after conceding that something different was required, Farke's bench was unable to provide that and not for the first time.

Accepting that there will be nights like this is a difficult thing to do when Ipswich Town do what they did on Tuesday night, finding a way to win again and moving 10 points clear of Leeds. It's as if Leeds just cannot afford to have nights like this, because the top two have been so good for so long. The situation might change and either of the top two could wobble and go through a rough patch but as it stands, how it has started to feel is that Leeds have to be nigh on perfect to even think about automatic promotion.

The game at Sunderland represented the ghost of Leeds United future insofar as this could be the exact opposition you end up facing in the play-offs. This kind of tight, organised, stubborn defensive unit is what you could come up against in a semi-final or final. That is when your magical players need to do their thing and do it as clinically as they did at Blackburn just a few days ago. Or, it's when the magic man you went and got in January, the natural number 10 who could offer something different to Piroe, earns his money and ratifies your transfer strategy by beating a man, threading a needle and making much out of nothing.

A left-back was already in Farke's thinking before Byram and Firpo picked up coincidental but not altogether surprising injuries. No one could have turned a blind eye to their respective struggles with availability in recent seasons, and strengthening there was always going to be a possible January necessity. That would scratch one longstanding itch within what is a very good, strong squad of players at Elland Road. A number 10 would scratch another.