Former Leeds United defender Ben Parker has explained why he thinks Whites head coach Marcelo Bielsa started Stuart Dallas ahead of Ezgjan Alioski at left-back against Hull City.
The Northern Irishman starred at left-back as the Yorkshire-based club handed Hull City a 2-0 defeat at Elland Road to go on top of the Championship table.
One of the major threats posed by the Tigers going into the game was their winger Bowen, and Dallas, originally a winger, was tasked with defending against the 22-year-old.
Having kept Bowen at bay and helped Leeds keep a clean sheet on the night, ex-Leeds full-back Parker believes Dallas was immense against Hull.
The 32-year-old lauded Dallas for sticking to his job of defending against Bowen and feels that is exactly why Bielsa started the Northern Irishman ahead of Alioski, despite the Macedonian featuring in the left-back position more often this season.
"I thought he was immense, as well, doing that job against Bowen where a lot of the talk was about him coming into this game", Parker said on LUTV post match.
"We knew his strengths, one of the best division at his job, but he stuck to the job perfectly and that's the reason why he probably got the nod ahead of Alioski.
"The manager trusts him. He probably made him one of the greatest on the ball, but it wasn't a night for that. It was a night to defend and what a performance from him."
Being a natural winger, defending is something Dallas has had to grow at, but Parker believes it was important that the 28-year-old focused on shutting Bowen out.
"Sometimes as a defender, you need to those type of things where you just nullify a threat and let the players who are creative in front of you do their job but I thought he was immense again tonight", Parker said.
Dallas had started all 21of Leeds' Championship games this season, featuring in a number of positions.
