Daniel Farke says £13m Leeds United player is new injury doubt for Derby after knock in training

Add as preferred source on Google

Daniel Farke has provided an injury update on his Leeds United squad ahead of the meeting with Derby County at Elland Road.

Leeds will be eager to return to winning ways after the 1-0 defeat at Blackburn Rovers last time out and will be glad to be back at home after their struggles on the road.

Sam Byram, Isaac Schmidt, Ethan Ampadu and Ilia Gruev were Leeds’ quartet of absentees at Ewood Park last weekend and so a full week on Thorp Arch should’ve proved useful.

Farke was unaware of the severity of Byram‘s injury when speaking before the trip to Blackburn, while Schmidt’s return to training was not early enough to be back in the squad.

Ampadu is now in the very final stages of his 10-week knee injury lay-off, while Gruev remains a long-term absentee.

• READ MORE: Derby manager Paul Warne ‘can’t believe’ rumour over Daniel Farke’s future at Leeds United

Farke shares injury update on Leeds squad pre-Derby

Farke was speaking in his pre-match press conference earlier this afternoon and had a mixed update to bring on his full-backs.

Unfortunately, Byram will not be available for the second successive match, but there is hope he could be back in team training next week.

Schmidt, meanwhile, looks set to return to the squad after his minor hernia surgery, but £13m man Junior Firpo is a new doubt after suffering a knock in training.

He said: “Sam Byram is out, he will definitely miss this game. There is some hope he could join us next week but for this game, he will miss out. Some good news with Isaac Schmidt, he is back in training after his hernia surgery.

“He was out for more or less three weeks and has had a few days back in training, and also available, but perhaps not 100 per cent available for 90 minutes. Definitely also an option.

“Some question marks over Junior Firpo’s appearance because he got a hit in training yesterday onto his foot. He was not able to train today so it will be a late call whether he’s available.”

• READ MORE: Leeds United confirmed to have January recall clause for £5m loanee, but they have to be quick

Max Wober door open for Leeds vs Derby

With Byram out, Firpo doubtful and Schmidt only just back from injury, that leaves Leeds a little short at left-back.

As such, it could open the door for Max Wober to make his first Championship start of the season providing Firpo isn’t fit.

Wober has played left-back plenty of times in his career before and should have no issue doing so at this level.

He has also come off the bench in two of the last three matches and so his match fitness has gradually built up in recent weeks.