A peek at the Thorp Arch treatment room as Leeds United gets ready to travel to St. Mary’s to take on an out-of-sorts Southampton team
Leeds United are back in action on Saturday lunchtime when they take on fellow relegated side Southampton in the early Championship kick-off. Leeds head to the south coast looking to extend their six-match unbeaten Championship run alive and are aiming to register a fifth consecutive clean sheet in the process.
They will be facing a Saints team that is out of form. Russell Martin’s team has lost four straight games and has the unfavorable distinction of having let up the most goals in the division, a fact that Leeds will be eager to exploit. And while Daniel Farke won’t want to make many adjustments to the lineup that defeated Watford 3-0 the previous Saturday, he might have another important attack option at his disposal.
Here is a glance at Leeds United’s injury and suspension list as of Saturday’s 12.30 p.m. kickoff.
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Patrick Bamford
Patrick Bamford injured his hamstring shortly before the start of the new season, but is now working his way back to match fitness and is set to travel with the squad to Southampton.
What Farke said (September 28): “[He’s] in team training, I think this week was massively beneficial for him. He’s also in topic for the squad on Saturday. It’s much improved, two weeks back in training. I think he’ll travel with us.
“There is an old rule that normally a player who’s back in training needs as long on the training pitch to be ready with full confidence, full rhythm, to be ready to play the same time like he was out. Patrick is an experienced player, for offensive players sometimes it’s a bit quicker so hopefully he doesn’t need eight weeks to be back in the mix.”
There is an ancient saying that a player returning to training needs to spend the same amount of time on the practice field in order to be fully confident, in rhythm, and prepared to play at the same time as he was away. Since Patrick is an accomplished player and offensive players often recover faster, maybe it won’t take him eight weeks to rejoin the action.
As of September 28th, Farke stated: “Junior Firpo is not back in team training so it will also definitely last until the international break.”
Gnonto, Wilfried
Wilfried Gnonto, a member of Italy’s national team, had to leave the game against Hull City last week due to an ankle injury. He underwent surgery, which will keep him out until after the international break.
Willy Gnonto had a good surgery, so according to Farke (September 28), “he’s already on the road to doing a lot of rehab work.”
Djed Spence
Tottenham loanee Djed Spence suffered a knee injury in training earlier this month, with the club putting out a statement confirming he would miss up to eight weeks. The club’s head of performance and medicine, Rob Price, went on The Official Leeds United Podcast earlier this week and Spence was one of several players he gave an update on.
What Rob Price said (September 25): “Djed was really unfortunate. Last week, he’s gone into a challenge in training, his foot slipped from underneath him and he’s ruptured the lateral ligament of his knee. Ninety per cent of these heal pretty well within eight weeks.
“We do some injections to try and promote the healing in that area and we protect it and his rehab is based on that. “So, at the minute, he’s a week into this and we’re just progressing really, really slowly, but it’s a freak accident. It could have happened to anyone.
“His foot slipped and it slips as he’s in a challenge, someone falls on his leg and pushes him into a level where the ligament can’t tolerate it, so it snaps, but what I would say about him, as with all the players, is already his attitude to doing what’s right and to making sure he’s going to be okay has been first class.
“We’ll build him up over the next few weeks. We hope he lies in that 90 per cent who get there within the eight weeks.
There are other things we can do if he doesn’t, but at this point, when he has a fair possibility of joining us again sometime in November, there isn’t anything else you’d do.
Martin Dallas
Following the Northern Irishman’s return to first-team training last week as he steps up his comeback, Stuart Dallas was another player that Rob Price mentioned.
If he doesn’t, there are other things we can do, but at this point, when he has a good chance of returning to us sometime in November, there is nothing else you would do.
Bryan Martin
Stuart Dallas was another player named by Rob Price after the Northern Irishman resumed first-team practice last week as he ramps up his comeback.
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