Former Leeds United striker Noel Whelan has praised Steve Evans for managing to take the club forward with players he did not sign.
The Whites, who appointed Evans in October, have moved up to 13th spot in the Championship after winning their last three league outings.
Leeds had a relatively quiet winter transfer window under Evans; the Yorkshire giants extended Liam Bridcutt’s loan from Sunderland until the end of the season while snapping up Mustapha Carayol from Middlesbrough on another loan deal, with Toumani Diagouraga being the only permanent signing.
And Whelan, who thinks Evans wants to bring in further players of his choice to Elland Road, however, credited the 53-year-old for making a difference at Leeds with the signings made by his predecessors.
“Steve Evans has come into a club with players that weren’t his”, Whelan wrote on his column in the Yorkshire Evening Post.
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“He’s now turning those players into something that he wants, his team.
“There are still players that he wants to bring into the club but let’s not take away the good job that he has done.
“He’s come in and we have all seen the difference.
“Yes, sometimes results haven’t gone our way but we asked for a reaction from the players and wanted to see a difference since Steve came has come to the football club.
“Yes we have, and now we are beginning to see it week-in, week-out and the progression that he’s beginning to make with the players and the team and getting his results.”
Leeds, who beat Blackburn Rovers 2-1 in an away league game at the weekend, will next welcome 18th-placed Huddersfield Town to Elland Road on Saturday.
Evans’ team won the corresponding fixture 3-0 in November.
