Daniel Farke will know that if Leeds United’s injury list continues to grow then he will have to drop into the club’s under-21 side and one player is showing some incredible form.
Ethan Ampadu has been ruled out until the new year and Ilia Gruev could join him, after Daniel Farke said he was waiting for a scan on Gruev. Four others were missing through injury on Tuesday night at Norwich.
Manor Solomon, Dan James and Max Wober will miss Friday night’s clash against Sunderland and given all three are crucial parts of their National Teams, it is expected they will remain at Leeds during the break.
Isaac Schmidt could overcome a glute issue before Friday’s outing, but Leeds are an injury-hit side at the moment. With The Whites taking on the Championship’s early pace-setters in Sunderland, it is not ideal.
At Norwich, James Debayo, Charlie Crew and Sam Chambers were on the bench on Tuesday night. But if Daniel Farke wants to improve his options in the final third from the U21’s side, there is only one choice.
Luca Thomas earns huge praise from U21 manager Scott Gardner
The 20-year-old, lured to Leeds from Manchester City, is in incredible form. Not only has Thomas gone joint first in the Premier League 2 goalscoring rankings, but he netted a brace in the National League Cup.
Six games in all competitions, eight goals. Five have come in Premier League 2, one against Charlton in the Premier League Cup and then two in a brilliant 4-3 comeback win over Boston United on Tuesday.
Speaking to LUTV after the match, Gardner said: “Nothing that we didn’t expect or don’t know about him. He’s got his confidence and he’s scoring with pretty much every opportunity he gets, hope it continues.”
Luca Thomas deserves Daniel Farke call-up to senior Leeds XI
That is despite the competition ahead of him. Farke has got to show that if players are going to shine in the second string, like Thomas is doing and then some, then there must be a reward for that good form.
Especially, when injuries are aplenty among the senior players. Thomas is on fire at the moment, one of six Leeds youngsters that went to the Germany training camp and he should be given a chance by Farke.
With Joel Piroe playing often as a 10 and Joe Gelhardt as a winger, and with Thomas able to play in different positions, then surely it is time to give a player in such a good run of form a first-team call-up.
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