Daniel Farke says Leeds United have player is ‘shining’ in attack and taking more responsibility behind the scenes

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Daniel Farke has been speaking ahead of Saturday’s trip to Ewood Park to take on Blackburn Rovers and the Leeds United manager has singled out one of his key players for huge praise.

Leeds secured a tenth win and clean sheet of the season on Wednesday night when took apart struggling Luton Town to win 3-0. Sam Byram earned praise from Mirco Antenucci after scoring his first this season.

The scissor kick gave Leeds the lead, before Joel Piroe and Dan James completed the rout. Leeds are back on top of the Championship table, ahead of Blackburn and Daniel Farke has some key decisions to make.

Junior Firpo is now back from his three-match suspension, having continued to remain match fit during his ban. Firpo made history with The Dominican Republic, qualifying for the Gold Cup for the first time.

• READ MORE: Leeds told they have the best attacking player in the Championship after last night

Daniel Farke heaps praise on Leeds United player Junior Firpo

Firpo is not the only selection headache Farke has ahead of Saturday. Manor Solomon, Dan James and Wilfried Gnonto are all vying to start out wide, with a start for Largie Ramazani still “a while away”.

Farke spoke during Thursday’s press conference about left-back Firpo and discussed whether he would come back in, with Byram starring but picking up a muscle issue. He also heaped praise on the left-back.

“Overall, you know I’m a big fan of Junior Firpo. Through my whole time here, I’ve supported him and when he was fit he was straight into the starting line-up and he’s repaid us, shining in the offensive areas.

“Crucial goals, I like how he develops his personality. He is taking more and more responsibility and also for the team. It was not the easiest period for him, yellow cards and the red, not much team training.

“Not the easiest for him to stay fit, competitive. But he’s worked hard in training been pretty disciplined. But there are no gifts and there is competition, it’s not like a name is written in permanent marker.”

The two changes Daniel Farke is expected to make on Saturday

Had Byram not been forced off with concerns of a hamstring issue, Farke might have had a difficult pick ahead of Saturday. That is how good Byram has been while deputising for suspended defender Firpo.

So, in comes Firpo for the Thorp Arch product. The other change is likely to be out wide, bringing James back into the side for Solomon – given Solomon played 90 minutes on Wednesday, seeing out the game.

Two changes then for Saturday, in come Firpo and James for Byram and Solomon. Elsewhere, Leeds are set to remain the same in terms of personnel, with Piroe scoring and little back-up for Brenden Aaronson.