Junior Firpo is fortunate that his careless red card didn't cost Leeds United a point in their recent draw against Newcastle United, although the Spaniard was at fault when he handballed Joe Willock's cross in the second half.

The former Barcelona man has certainly proven himself to be error-prone during his time at Elland Road and his red card may be something of a blessing in disguise for Sam Allardyce ahead of this weekend's game against West Ham United.

The Hammers are all but safe so this represents arguably Leeds' best chance to pick up three points in their fight for survival against Allardyce's former side, and while not having Firpo available may be seen as a blow, it could allow Pascal Struijk to make his return to the side at left-back.

Is losing Firpo a blow for Leeds?

This season has seen the 26-year-old make 18 appearances in the Premier League, contributing one goal and one assist, with a shocking 6.42 average rating from WhoScored for his performances.

Considering this ranks him as the 19th-best performer at Elland Road, while he has previously been dubbed a "liability" defensively by journalist David Anderson, it is something of a surprise that he has started both of Allardyce's games in charge thus far, given the Englishman's reputation as a defensive-minded coach.

He certainly didn't repay Allardyce's faith in him over the weekend against Newcastle, giving away the second penalty before earning a red card after bringing down Anthony Gordon when he was the last man late on, with his performance lambasted by the pundits on BT Sport following the game.

Gary McAllister said (via Daily Mail): "It's unexplainable why he goes so high with his hand, he gets himself in a terrible position, it's a desperate and wrong decision."

These are exactly the sort of decisions Leeds need to avoid in the final two games if they are going to retain their Premier League status, so Firpo's red card may actually work in the Yorkshire outfit's favour.

Should Allardyce unleash Struijk?

This leaves the English manager with two to choose from at left-back, and considering Max Wober has been featuring as a centre-back in recent fixtures, it would not be a surprise to see Struijk given the nod at left-back.

The former Ajax man may have struggled in the heavy defeats against Arsenal, Crystal Palace and Liverpool, earning below a 6/10 rating from WhoScored in all three of those fixtures, but he has still ranked as the third-best performer at Elland Road so far this campaign.

Dubbed a "ridiculous talent" by journalist Conor McGilligan earlier in the season, the 23-year-old can offer Allardyce physicality and defensive nous against West Ham, as he ranks second for tackles, fourth for clearances and fifth for blocks per game in Leeds' squad.

He could perhaps find himself unfortunate to have been dropped by Allardyce for his two games in charge thus far but the Belgian-born defender certainly has the quality to make a real difference and could be one to really benefit from Firpo's rash red card last weekend.