Joe Rothwell shares what he really thinks about playing alongside new Leeds United star Ao Tanaka after Norwich City draw

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Leeds United picked up a 1-1 draw against Norwich City at Carrow Road on Tuesday, despite having to play with a new-look midfield of Ao Tanaka and Joe Rothwell for the first time.

Daniel Farke says Ethan Ampadu will be out until the new year, joining Max Wober, Manor Solomon, Dan James and Isaac Schmidt on the sidelines. It saw Ao Tanaka start alongside Ilia Gruev in Leeds‘ midfield.

But inside 20 minutes, Gruev limped off after going down a couple of times and the Bulgarian came off for Joe Rothwell. It saw Leeds boast two new signings that have yet to share the pitch together last night.

But, they adapted well. Despite both players being attack-minded no.8’s replacing the defensive-minded Gruev and Ampadu, they coped well as Leeds came from behind to win a point against Farke’s old side.

Tanaka took on the more-defensive role of the two while Rothwell looked to probe and when attacking, sat 10 yards ahead of Tanaka at times. While it might not have been perfect, the duo deserve credit.

• READ MORE: Daniel Farke shares whether he thinks Leeds should have had a penalty

Joe Rothwell shares his thoughts on Ao Tanaka after first start

Not only was it two players that are yet to play with each other in a Leeds shirt, but it was Tanaka’s first start and Rothwell has only started for Leeds in the Carabao Cup this season so there is plenty to work on.

With Sunderland away on Friday next, Leeds are likely to have to combine Rothwell and Tanaka in midfield again and speaking to LUTV, on-loan Leeds star Rothwell said he and Tanaka will have to work things out.

“Ao’s a great player. It’s nice to play alongside him, he brings different qualities to the game than I would. I’d say we’ve lost a bit of that defensive nous with Ilia and Ethan both out,” Rothwell said about Tanaka.

“We’ll bring something a bit different, but if we’re playing together week in, week out over the next few weeks we’ll have to try and figure each other out and compliment each other in the best way we can.”

Rothwell and Tanaka’s stats from Leeds draw against Norwich

It was a solid point for Leeds and sees The Whites go unbeaten in three. A win against Sunderland on Friday at the Stadium of Light would round off a superb run of games for Farke’s men, if at all possible.

Given the duo might not have worked much together other than the odd occasion in training so far, the duo will have a couple of days now where they really need to get things right at Thorp Arch this week.

Then, a trip to Sunderland on Friday night where Tanaka and Rothwell are more than likely to start with each other. That, or Farke drops Brenden Aaronson in alongside Rothwell with Tanaka as a no.4 pivot.