Daniel Farke has laid down a challenge to Isaac Schmidt whose progression towards Leeds United action has been hampered lately.

The versatile full-back was signed in the summer transfer window from Swiss Super League club St. Gallen, after which Farke described him as a 'young, interesting player.' Chances have been few and far between for the 24-year-old so far at Elland Road, with just three brief substitute cameos in the Championship. He came off the bench for the final minute of regulation time against both Cardiff City and Sunderland, but got seven minutes in the comfortable win over Coventry City.

Farke was able to use his bench to freshen up the team and hand out a trio of debuts at the weekend when Leeds raced to a 3-0 lead over Plymouth Argyle. Teenagers Charlie Crew and Sam Chambers came on for substitute appearances, alongside new signing Josuha Guilavogui, but Schmidt remained unused for the fourth consecutive league game.

The manager says competition and issues that have impacted Schmidt's ability to train and perform are at the heart of the defender's current situation when it comes to game time. "With lots of competition, if three other full-backs are chipping in with these performances it’s difficult to be involved," said Farke. "It's not that often that we use four full-backs during the game. We need this competition, I always react to what happens on the training pitch and obviously what happens performance wise during games. If your competitors are delivering such a level of performance it's never easy but it's a big motivator to improve a bit more because there are no gifts. It's more like who delivers plays and that's how it works in professional football. Recently he was struggling with a few illnesses and little injuries so it broke his rhythm. And you could see that it has impacted him a little bit in training."

Farke has challenged Schmidt to return to his best at Thorp Arch in order to break into the first team plans.

"He needs to step up a bit to find the consistency in performance level again. And as soon as he can find his consistency in training there's also a chance to be more and more involved and it's also what I would want to see."

Schmidt's chances of involvement at Millwall appear slim now that Jayden Bogle is available once again following a one-match suspension. He, Junior Firpo and Sam Byram, who has filled in on both sides of the defence in the last two games, are all currently ahead of Schmidt in the pecking order.

Farke was pleased with what his veteran defender Byram delivered at Bristol City and in the win over Argyle.

"Overall, I was really happy and pleased with both of Sam’s performances," he said. "It's not easy when you’re not that much in your rhythm, on the left then the right. Two excellent performances, he’s chipped in. It’s always good when there’s competition. Jayden, before his suspension, he was excellent. Junior has also chipped in with many end products. All three are available and we’ll see who we pick. Sam we have to keep in mind it’s sometimes a bit more tricky when the turnaround is quick."