Wounded Jesse Marsch's Leeds United team news admission for Fulham with vital factor emerging

The 11 men who run out at Elland Road will carry with them the manager's fate, which is of course always the case to some degree but never more true than it is right now for Marsch.

Even assurances from the Leeds board that there is no room in their thinking for an alternative to Marsch's presence in the technical area do not preclude the possibility of a change in mood, at the very least, on the back of Sunday's events.

Fans who will collectively stand right behind the American and his team at kick-off, regardless of their personal feelings on his suitability for the role, are the same fans whose patience ran out at Leicester City. When the football isn't sparkling and the goals aren't flowing, an atmosphere can quickly turn stale and then toxic.

At the Kingpower, as Marsch spoke of finding a way to stop the bleeding, he looked every bit as wounded as Leeds have become due to this seven-game streak without victories. His position has been undermined by results, along with situations inside and outside his control. The individual errors that have led directly to goals conceded are something he can do little about during games, but he can at least select those showing less propensity for wobbles. Missed chances are crippling Leeds at the other end and Marsch can't put the ball in the net, but he can put out a forward line that gives the best chance of that happening.

Here is where fans, even those who have lost all faith in him, will still harbour some sympathy for their head coach. The striker situation was always going to be a problem, when one did not appear after an entire summer of talking about the need for one and flirting with a number of highly rated, highly expensive, high profile targets. That in itself may well have prevented fans from turning sooner. At Leicester, turn they did, as Marsch and his assistant Rene Maric held lengthy touchline chats about what to do next, what to try next, and looked forlornly at the bench.

One of those upon whom their gaze fell was Willy Gnonto, the forward who did arrive on deadline day despite Marsch's August insistence that the 18-year-old was not 'Premier League ready.' Bright displays for both the Italian senior side and Leeds Under 21s led Marsch to revise his statement, but as Gnonto's wait for a single minute of Premier League action goes on, the revision remains in word and not deed. Yet as he looks at his options for Sunday's game against Fulham in order to pick a team, it would now smack of desperation were Marsch to throw the teenager in at the deepest end.

This team selection will beg a huge amount of trust on Marsch's behalf, which can only really point him in the direction of senior players.

"We have to put the right team on the pitch," he said on Thursday. He has to help himself, in a way he did not at the Kingpower.

The surprising selection of Diego Llorente, next to Junior Firpo, was exploited expertly by Leicester who could have parked a bus between the two defenders, let alone a simple, straight pass. Firpo's presence was a necessity, thanks to an injury Leeds hoped would keep Pascal Struijk out of a single game. If fit, he must play because Marsch believes Firpo can become a defender, but Struijk is one. Next to him must be Liam Cooper, dropped for Leicester and then parachuted into the side at half-time to bring balance.

Of Leeds' three centre-backs, Cooper and Robin Koch have presented the most solid and consistent front, with Llorente all too often presenting the possibility of drama. Anything Marsch can control, he will seek to, and any question marks or doubts over a player's reliability will inform his decision-making process.

His other unexpected change for the Foxes was the introduction of Crysencio Summerville, whose unknown quantity status pales in comparison with Jack Harrison's tangible chance-creating contribution to the season.

Up top the Patrick Bamford who caused Arsenal such issues failed to appear at Leicester, yet with the way this team sets up the script is there to be written for the once-capped England man, whereas Rodrigo's recent improvisation and Hollywood stuff has been costly and risky. It may be that Marsch decides to go with both men but if only one is to play, it will surely be Bamford.

Elsewhere, he will go with who he knows. Rasmus Kristensen, Tyler Adams and Brenden Aaronson all have history with the boss. Marc Roca picked a poor time to drop in his off-night this week but Marsch knows what the midfielder can do to help get Leeds up the pitch. And he knows Luis Sinisterra carries Leeds' best goal threat outside the area, if Fulham prove difficult to break down.

They will all, to a man, be desperate to repay Marsch's faith with the result that he, they and the whole club needs so badly. You can see why, too, because he's a nice guy. What he needs to start proving beyond all doubt is that he's the right guy, the one the board should continue to trust.