Young Leeds United defender told not to worry after being left out of matchday squad

Leeds defender Charlie Cresswell missed out for loan club Millwall in midweek as the Lions drew 1-1 with Rotherham United.

Manager Gary Rowett cleared up the reason for Cresswell’s absence during his post-match press conference, admitting the youngster had not picked up an injury, but instead had not been selected.

Despite this, Rowett’s comments suggest there is nothing to be alarmed about after Cresswell’s omission.

“No, just a selection decision,” Rowett said, when posed with the question, as per London News Online. “We played with a back four, I felt we needed to go with a four that have played together quite a lot. That’s what I decided to do.

“Our captain [Shaun Hutchinson] was left out of the squad last week, Mason Bennett was left out last week, Scott Malone was left out this week. Young Cressy, that was just the decision I made, I didn’t feel I needed a centre-back on the bench.

“Sometimes people feel that if you’re not in the 18, something’s gone wrong. But don’t forget, the bench has to be able to impact the game, so you have to pick a bench accordingly. It might be that in a game or two, he comes back into the starting line-up, it’s as simple as that,” Rowett added.

England Under-21 centre-half Cresswell has featured on ten occasions for the south London club since joining on loan this summer.

Already, he has made more appearances for the Lions than he has accrued at parent club Leeds United in what is the 20-year-old’s first real test in senior football.

The youngster has scored three times since arriving in the capital alongside fellow Leeds loanee Jamie Shackleton.