'Crazy situation' - Leeds United promotion rivals suffer major injury blow as nine-goal striker ruled out
Leeds United's Championship promotion rivals Norwich City will be without United States international forward Josh Sargent until the New Year.
Canaries boss Johannes Hoff Thorup confirmed Sargent must undergo surgery on a groin injury that is set to keep him out of action until 2025.
The 24-year-old has four goals and five assists in 12 Championship matches so far this season and managed 16 goals in 26 league appearances last term.
Norwich held Leeds to a 1-1 draw at Carrow Road last month in what was a close-run contest and have scored the joint-most in the division after 13 games with 23 goals.
In particular, Sargent's link-up with attacking midfielder Borja Sainz, who himself has netted 11 times already in 2024/25, will be a miss for Thorup's side.
"It's not the ideal scenario for anybody. We have options and possibilities for other players to come in," the head coach said.
"We had 15, 16 outfield players available for minutes [against Cardiff] but one of them was an Under-21 player who just came from a Friday night game at Manchester City.
"It's a crazy situation that we are in, but we deal with it, we support each other and we don't blame each other."
How does this impact the Canaries’ promotion bid?
Norwich are three points off the play-off places and trail second-place Leeds by eight points although the Canaries are unbeaten at Carrow Road in over a year - a run Thorup will hope to maintain even in Sargent's absence.