Mike Grella as been warned by Leeds manager Simon Grayson that he has little chance of figuring in United’s closing games of the season after walking out on his loan spell at Swindon.

American striker Grella angered Swindon boss Paul Hart by cutting short his time with the Wiltshire club and returning to Elland Road.

Grella blamed a shortage of opportunities for his decision but a baffled Grayson said: “We haven’t got a 24-hour recall arrangement and Swindon are still paying his wages, so I am surprised at what has happened and I am still trying to get to the bottom of it.

“Mike had played five out of seven games for Swindon and had two games on the bench. He has said he wasn’t getting games under the new management but that has rebounded on him. He has probably got more chance of playing at Swindon than with us.

“The reason we sent him out on loan in the first place was to get some games and to be in someone’s first-team picture. We have a lot of players who are in front of him at this moment and his return to us isn’t going to change that too much.

“There are still things to be sorted out before we dismiss him from our team or he goes back to Swindon.”

Hart reacted to Grella’s walk-out by complaining: “It’s amazing. It’s beyond me. We don’t need people like that. He expressly wished to go back to Leeds but what he’s going to do back there I don’t know.”

Meanwhile, Grayson is backing winger or striker Max Gradel to finish the season with 20 vital goals in the quest for Premier League status.

Gradel, 23, has already piled up 17, including seven in the last nine games, and with five matches to go he is confident of reaching his manager’s target.

Grayson said: “Max scored a goal out of nothing at Derby in midweek and he has been playing with a huge amount of confidence.

“Seventeen goals is a great total for someone who plays out wide as well as up front. Hopefully he can reach 20 by the end of the season but knowing Max he probably feels he should have scored 30 or more.”