Djed Spence has seen his loan at Leeds United cancelled and the player has returned to Tottenham Hotspur – and Daniel Farke admits that his lack of options at full-back is now starting to worry him.
Spence, 23, joined Leeds in the summer from Spurs – but after just seven outings and a training ground injury that kept him out for three months, he’s gone back to Spurs. A decision made by Leeds and Farke.
Sam Byram is injured, as is Jamie Shackleton. Junior Firpo has been injured for much of the season and Luke Ayling is also on the sidelines, with a knee issue. The latter may be available for Sunday’s match.
So, on Sunday, it is likely that Archie Gray and Firpo start on each side of the defence. It could be that Leo Hjelde comes into the squad, a player that Farke has recently said is not a part of his Leeds plans.
Speaking in Friday’s press conference as per the club’s YouTube, Farke admits that his lack of options is starting to worry him – despite making the decision to let Spence go. Surely, a hint at new signings.
“A little bit [worried about full-back depth]. It is always tricky to get the perfect solution in January. We are aware Sam and Junior have injuries. Junior had a long appearance the other day, hope he stays fit.
“He’s an outstanding player at this level. We will watch carefully what happens over the next few weeks. If there are really good solutions, we will try to make it happen. We won’t do anything stupid,” he said.
Daniel Farke says Leeds full-back depth is starting to worry him
It is a bizarre one, that Farke has left Spence return to Tottenham but is worried about his options at full-back. Especially, with Shackleton, Ayling and Byram all picking up injuries. Gray has starred in defence.
His rise to prominence on the right of defence will not have been foreseen when Leeds signed Spence in the summer. It also means it is more than unlikely that Spence was going to get a chance in his best role.
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