Former Leeds United star Noel Whelan says he is happy with Marcelo Bielsa deploying Kalvin Phillips as a centre-back.
With his defensive resources stretched, Bilesa opted to push defensive midfielder Phillips into the backline for Leeds' 1-0 win over Reading at Elland Road on Tuesday night.
Whelan was happy enough with what he saw from Phillips and believes the defensive midfielder already has the attributes needed to cope at centre-back.
And the former Leeds forward stressed that Bielsa would not have made the change if he did not have total confidence Phillips could do the job.
"I had no problem with him playing centre-half", Whelan said on BBC Radio Leeds.
"All this season we've seen that that deeper role really suits him.
"He loves a tackle, he loves a challenge, he knows how to defend, he can anticipate the game and it just goes to show the reason why he's there is because the manager trusts him to do a job", he added.
Bielsa has made Phillips a key man in his Leeds unit this season and all eyes will be on whether the midfielder needs to be used at the back again at the weekend against Yorkshire rivals Sheffield United.
Leeds were without Pontus Jansson for the visit of Reading, while Gaetano Berardi and Luke Ayling are longer term defensive absentees.
