Leeds United aren’t too far away from boasting a fully fit squad again but a run of three matches in six days is certainly testing the squad to its limits.
Leeds made it back-to-back wins since the international break with a 3-0 victory over Luton Town at Elland Road, returning to the top of the Championship.
The busy week is set to be rounded off by a trip to Blackburn Rovers on Saturday in a 1.30pm kick-off, again giving Daniel Farke limited time on the training pitch to prepare.
Farke made only one change to his starting XI from the win at Swansea but such was the nature of the game, he was able to make plenty of substitutions in the second half.
Joel Piroe, Wilfried Gnonto and Brenden Aaronson were all brought off the before the end, making starts likely for them at Ewood Park.
BBC journalist on potential Sam Byram injury for Leeds
Another player brought off some time before the end was Sam Byram, with Farke replacing him with Max Wober at left-back just over half-an-hour from time.
It is unusual to see Farke make a change so early in a match but speaking on BBC Radio Leeds post-match, journalist Jonathan Buchan thinks he knew why.
Buchan spotted Byram ‘gesturing’ towards the bench about a potential issue with one of his legs, which wouldn’t be the first time in his career.
Having played second fiddle to Junior Firpo for much of the season, Byram’s body will not have been used to starting two matches in such quick succession, but Buchan is hoping its not too serious.
“You have got to talk about the backline as well, not the first choice backline you’ve got to say. Firpo would be first choice, although Byram is playing really well.
“Hopefully the reason he came off tonight wasn’t too serious, it looked like he was gesturing towards some kind of issue with one of his legs. Let’s hope it’s not too serious.”
Daniel Farke shares Byram injury update
Farke was asked about Byram in his post-match press conference and did confirm Buchan’s fears that he was struggling with a potential injury.
However, the Leeds boss is hopeful Byram picked up on the issue early enough to ensure it was nothing serious and he will be ready to go again at Blackburn.
Thankfully, Firpo returns from suspension this weekend and so if Byram is nursing any kind of problem he doesn’t need to be risked.
He said: “Sam felt a problem in his hamstring, Hopefully early enough to be subbed before it gets too bad. Max came on, but hopefully Sam is ready to go again.”
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