How Stuart Dallas and Luke Ayling have made right-back Leeds United's Position of the Season

There isn’t actually a trophy for that category, I made it up. If there was, it would sit upon the respective mantelpieces of Stuart Dallas and Luke Ayling for six months apiece, as Leeds United’s representatives for the right-back position.

At centre-forward Patrick Bamford has done so well in so many aspects of play, falling down only on his finishing, whereas Eddie Nketiah looked a deadly finisher but far from the finished article in his all-round game.

The men carrying Leeds hopes down the wings, the division's fourth most effective 'big chance' creator Jack Harrison and Helder Costa, have been terrific outlets for Marcelo Bielsa on the left and right respectively, without consistently producing multiple killer final balls per game.

In the centre of midfield Mateusz Klich, the Championship leader for completed final third passes, is having a great season in terms of link-up play and work rate but is just missing the goals of last season and maybe a few more assists – although that is dependent on the finishing of others, while Pablo Hernandez hasn’t consistently maintained the high standards he’s more than capable of producing and Adam Forshaw started the season like a house on fire before injury extinguished his chances of playing a full part.

The defensive midfield role Kalvin Phillips has made his own is a source of consistency for the Whites, when he plays in it at least. His three-game suspension turned it into a bit of a problem area for Leeds, however, because the defence and Kiko Casilla looked a little too exposed without their enforcer providing his usual rock-solid cover.

Centre-half has been an area of strength and would be considered a contender for the fictional prize, thanks to the sub-zero composure of Championship rookie and leading interceptor of the ball Ben White and his experienced teacher Liam Cooper – who due to injury hasn’t been ever-present – next to him, but they haven’t always maintained their grip on that part of the pitch.

Despite the early-season performances of Kiko Casilla, goalkeeping has been an issue for Leeds of late.

And left-back might be the team’s enfant terrible, where opposition teams have found some joy and where no one can claim to have truly nailed down the starting place.

By comparison, right-back is the golden child.

Dallas was the forerunner for Player of the Year with his displays on the right side of United’s defence, while Ayling was recovering from surgery.

It was difficult to imagine Dallas dropping out when Ayling returned, so good was his form, but he needn’t have worried, injuries to the likes of Forshaw and Bielsa’s love of the Ulsterman has kept him in the side, in various positions.

The handover of right-back responsibility between Dallas who ran a blistering first leg and Ayling, who has barely put a foot wrong since, was seamless.

When he was playing in the position, Dallas was among the Championship leaders for progressive passes – forward balls 30m long starting in Leeds’ half of the pitch or 10m at least in the opposition half – and Ayling now leads the division with 13.8 per 90 minutes.

Ayling has not only come back from ankle surgery to play a big part this season, in many ways he's come back stronger - passing the ball more accuracy, making more interceptions and putting in more crosses. It says a lot about his reading of the game and his conditioning that, having played fewer minutes than eight outfield team-mates, he's joint third in the team for interceptions [39] and with his signature move, known affectionately to fans as the 'Ayling flop' he is the second most fouled player in the team.

Both he and Dallas are both good dribblers, mobile enough to bomb up and down the flank and win approximately two tackles per game each. Despite the amount of touches they each take, they’re rarely dispossessed and their ability on the ball, combined with the contribution of Costa and others, has allowed Leeds to average 38 attacks per game down the right, compared with just 30 on the left and 16 down the middle. Between them, they've made a little under 18 per cent of Leeds' total passes for the season, although many of Dallas' passes were made in other positions, likewise his ball recoveries - he is fourth in the team with 181 and Ayling is close behind in fifth with 170.

For his part, Dallas, who ranks 11th in the Championship for big chances created [11], came up with one of the nicest goals of the season from the right-back position against Stoke.

When, as a midfielder, he scored in a 1-1 with Preston and in the 5-4 win over Birmingham, it was Ayling who set him up on both occasions.

That game at St Andrews featured a screamer of a goal from Ayling, who dragged Leeds to victory. His winner against Bristol City on Saturday was huge and symbolic of the leadership he has shown at a time when it was most required. He had the most touches of any player against Brentford and Bristol, and in each of those games was seen issuing well-timed rollickings to ensure United’s standards are met and kept.

Not to be outdone, Dallas’ displays at left-back against Brentford and Bristol, when 88 per cent of his match actions were successful and he recovered the ball 11 times, were excellent.

There’s a satisfying symmetry to Bielsa finding the solution to his left-back problem in a right-back.

As a position, it’s a gift that keeps on giving.