Marcelo Bielsa applauds Kiko Casilla's bravery as Leeds United keeper plays through pain at Middlesbrough

The Spaniard made a couple of vital saves to keep his third consecutive clean sheet and make it a hat-trick of 1-0 victories for the Whites.

Casilla damaged fingers in Saturday's game against Reading and Bielsa was unsure on Tuesday if his goalkeeper would make the Boro fixture.

Leeds took three keepers to the Riverside, Italian teenager Elia Caprile, who signed for the club from Verona in January, making the trip along with Casilla and French loanee Illan Meslier.

But the United's first choice stopper made the decision to play, despite the discomfort he was still feeling.

"It was a very brave decision from him to play this match," said Bielsa.

"I think not many players would play in this match with the pain he had."

And what he did during the game impressed his head coach. While Boro only had two shots on target, they were testing for Casilla.

George Saville let rip from 25 yards with a thunderous strike that had to be tipped over the bar and Marcus Tavernier's deflected effort in the second half could have caused problems, but Casilla was equal to it. He also dealt well with a couple of dangerous near post deliveries.

It was the second time in two games that the stopper made a big impact for Leeds, after a rocky spell and some high profile errors.

"He had a good performance, a safe performance," said Bielsa.

"It was satisfactory."