Leeds United starting pair facing late fitness tests as Farke confirms fresh concern for star man
Two of Leeds United’s regular starters will require late fitness tests to prove their availability for Wednesday’s game at Norwich City.
Brenden Aaronson took an ankle knock during the first half of Sunday’s 3-0 win over Sheffield Wednesday but was able to play on until stoppage time when Farke said the pain made it necessary for him to come off. Manor Solomon, who scored the first goal against the Owls and has two goals and four assists in seven games, also felt a hamstring issue towards the end of his appearance on Sunday.
“We will see,” said Farke. “The turnaround is not too bad, it's a home game and we have at least three proper nights of sleep in between the games. It could also be we rotatate a little bit. In terms of injuries. Brenden looked okay today. It will be a late call with him. Nothing major so far to confirm, late decision if he's available or not. Carefully optimistic. Manor Solomon is also a doubt, he was complaining about some hamstring problems today, he felt it at the end of the game. We'll have to assess it a bit more, it's a bit doubtful, I would say 50:50. We will know on Wednesday morning.”
Leeds’ major injury concern at present involves centre-back Pascal Struijk. The Dutchman has been out with a hamstring injury since last week and the initial expectation was that he would miss three weeks, unless there was a tendon problem involved, in which case he could be looking at three months on the sidelines. Leeds’ plan was to rescan the centre-back’s hamstring this week once the fluid and swelling subsides so they can get an exact picture of the damage.
Last week Farke admitted the worst case scenario could send Leeds into the transfer market and speaking after the win on Sunday he added that Ethan Ampadu was not regarded as the club’s permanent solution at centre-back. Ampadu filled in for Struijk in the second half of last season and formed a solid partnership with Welsh national team colleague Joe Rodon. The pair were reunited on Sunday against the Owls in the heart of the defence but Farke has admitted he likes to have Ampadu in central midfield.
Farke admitted on Monday he was reluctant to let centre-back James Debayo follow fellow academy product Charlie Crew out of the club on loan this month due to the injury situation at centre-back.