Leeds United question mark over defender and huge boost as Daniel Farke considers early return for star man
Daniel Farke has provided his Leeds United team news for Saturday’s visit of Derby County.
Leeds United boss Daniel Farke has been given a huge boost with the return of his 'most important' player at Thorp Arch this week.
Leeds were without Sam Byram and Isaac Schmidt for the trip to Blackburn Rovers due to a hamstring issue and recovery from surgery respectively.
Farke has welcomed Schmidt back into training but Byram is still out of action for the Derby County fixture.
"Sam Byram is out, he will definitely miss this game," said Farke. "There's some hope he can join us during the week. Some good news with Isaac, he's back in training after his hernia operation. He was out for more or less three weeks but is back in training and though not ready for 90 minutes he's an option."
The return of Schmidt to the squad will boost Farke's full-back options but he has a potential new headache in that very area of the pitch.
"Some question marks behind Junior Firpo, he got a hit on his foot in training and wasn't able to train today," said Farke. "It will be a late call if he's to be available."
Farke does have Max Wober, who can play at centre-back or at left-back. The Austrian international has returned to fitness in recent weeks and been given a couple of cameos off the substitutes bench in the last few games.
He played six minutes at Swansea City and then got half an hour in the win over Luton Town and could fill in for Firpo if the first-choice left-back is ruled out.
"He’s a candidate there but we know his best position is centre-back," added Farke.
The real boost from Thorp Arch this week however is the return to full training of club captain Ethan Ampadu. Farke is considering involving the central midfielder in squads ahead of his expected return that after an initial January prediction was revised to mid to late-December.
"He's back in full team training this weeks, he looks good in training and can handle the load," said Farke. "Normally I would use a player when out for such a long time after two or three weeks of team training. So it's definitely good he's two or three weeks ahead of schedule, it's a testament to his professional work in rehab.
“He was desperate to come back as soon as possible. He's our captain, our most important player in the whole squad. I'm a bit tempted to bring him back even earlier than in two or three weeks. If we will use him in the upcoming games, we'll see. It depends a bit on who is available or not.
"It's definitely good he's back and each day is beneficial for him. It could be he's even involved before the middle of December."