Luke Ayling has been a peripheral figure for Jesse Marsch so far this season.
The experienced full-back has seen his place come under threat following the recent arrival of Rasmus Kristensen.
However, even though Kristensen was absent for the Whites’ weekend game against Brentford, which saw them thumped 5-2, Ayling was still left on the bench.
Cody Drameh played at right-back but following a poor first half, the young defender was hauled off at half-time with Ayling taking his place. Later contributing to an assist, it is clear that the 31-year-old still has a role to play, and backing that theory up has been The Athletic’s Paul Hay.
“I thought [Ayling] made a big difference when he came on. I thought his attacking play was good, the assist obviously for Roca’s goal, but there’d been a bit of that beforehand,” Hay recently said.
“I think it realigns the thinking that a lot of us have in assuming that this is the tail-end for Ayling now, he’s out of contract in the summer, and he seems like he’s been usurped by Kristensen in that position.
“There might just be life in him left, and I think that’s going to be quite a big decision as time goes on, depending on how Kristensen’s form settles.”