Star doubt but new striker chance as Daniel Farke provides Leeds United team news v Sheffield Wednesday
Leeds United are back in action on Tuesday evening at Sheffield Wednesday in the second round of the Carabao Cup.
Whites boss Daniel Farke has provided fresh Leeds United team news for Tuesday night’s Carabao Cup contest at Sheffield Wednesday with a star doubt but new striker chance.
Midfielder Ao Tanaka was taken off in the 58th minute of Saturday evening’s 5-0 Premier League defeat at Arsenal after experiencing problems with his MCL.
The blow left the Japanese international star facing assessment ahead of Tuesday night’s cup clash for which captain Ethan Ampadu is definitely out, also with an MCL injury.
New striker signing Dominic Calvert-Lewin, though, could make the Whites matchday squad for the first time as he continues to make good progress in training.
The England-capped forward joined Leeds as a free agent three days before last Monday night’s Premier League opener against Arsenal but Farke warned that after the September international break might be a more realistic timeframe of when the striker would be fully ready.
Farke, though, was tempted to take Calvert-Lewin with the squad to Arsenal and Tuesday night’s cup clash now offers a fresh chance.
“We are doing a little mini pre-season with him”
Farke held his pre-match press conference for the cup clash after Saturday evening’s defeat at Arsenal and said: “Ethan is definitely out, Ao Tanaka we have to assess in the upcoming days. Apart from this no new injury concerns.
"Dominic is progressing well day to day, he is growing, you can see this in training.
"Obviously there was a long summer break and then he has missed five-and-a-half weeks of pre-season. We are doing at the moment a little mini pre-season with him.
"It means he is joining us in team training and he is growing from day to day but he also has to do additional load, he does more than the normal team in order to build his fitness for the long Premier League season.
"For that, I was a bit tempted on Saturday to let him travel with us but we decided and also together that he needs a few more days on the training pitch.
"But there is a chance right now, more or less from day to day to see him for the first time in the travelling squad for a competitive game.
"It's edging closer and closer and also we will take a late decision for this game."