Daniel Farke has shared a new injury update ahead of Leeds United’s final game before Christmas against Oxford United.
Oxford begins a run of five matches in just 15 days for Leeds, with the festive period now well and truly here.
It will be important for Farke to rotate his squad well over the next couple of weeks to ensure everyone remains as fresh as possible for each and every game.
Leeds will be delighted to return back to Elland Road for this one as they look to make it nine home league wins in a row, amid another tough away day at Preston North End.
It will be interesting to see if Oxford have a new manager in the dugout for the game, with Gary Rowett in advanced talks over replacing Des Buckingham following his Sunday sacking.
Farke shares injury update on Max Wober ahead of Leeds vs Oxford
Junior Firpo and Ilia Gruev were Leeds’ only injury absentees at Preston North End last week and unfortunately, neither will play any part over Christmas.
A full week on the training pitch will hopefully have proven useful for both Ethan Ampadu and Max Wober, as neither were deemed fit enough to start at Deepdale.
Unfortunately, though, Wober has actually suffered a setback in his quest to return to full fitness during training this week.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Farke said Wober had to pull out of training on Wednesday and was again unable to take part today.
He said: “Yes obviously it was more or less the first game in the starting line-up for Max and also for him lots of load because he played 75 minutes in the other game. His knee was slightly swollen so we didn’t want to take any risks.
“Sadly there was a little setback in training yesterday, he had to step out because of some knee problems again. He wasn’t able to train today and will be a tight race for him. At the moment it looks like he probably won’t be available for this game.
“Again, he reported some problems with his knees and it’s a little bit swollen. Of course, disappointing for us, but also for him. Tough first part of the season for him, but we hope it’s not too bad and there is a small chance he is available for this game. At the moment, more likely he’s not involved.”
Leeds should take no risks with Max Wober
With Oxford representing the first of five matches in 15 days, Leeds cannot afford to take any risks this weekend.
Wober is quite clearly struggling and so this weekend should be the chance for him to rest up ahead of back-to-back away games in quick succession.
Leeds are well stocked for options at left-back without him, as Sam Byram and Isaac Schmidt will both be eager to get a start.
Clearly this is an issue that has been plaguing Wober for a while and until he’s fully over it, he should be protected.
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