Daniel Farke has hinted Jamie Shackleton could be heavily involved for Leeds United over the next two matches.
Farke was speaking in his pre-match press conference ahead of Leeds’ trip to Hull City on Wednesday night, in which he was asked about Shackleton.
Shackleton started five of Leeds‘ seven matches in all competitions before the first international break, a run of performances in which he drew a lot of praise from.
The 23-year-old was at left-back in his last outing against Sheffield Wednesday, but lost his place at Millwall with Sam Byram having returned.
Leeds will have to manage Byram’s fitness carefully this season amid the struggles with injury he has endured during recent seasons.
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Farke hints at Shackleton return against Hull
With that in mind, as well as Luke Ayling’s age, Farke has hinted that Shackleton could start at least one of Leeds’ next two matches this week.
He said: “We expect Millwall to play with many long balls, and to be a physical aerial threat. Also, to Jamie, he had some problems with his shoulder because he had a knock, that also explains why I didn’t bring him in because I didn’t want to take any risks, in his positions sadly we already have two injuries with Junior Firpo and Djed Spence.
“Luke Ayling is not the youngest anymore and Byram has history with injuries, so I wanted also to have Jamie fresh for the upcoming two fixtures and didn’t want to take any risk with his shoulder.”
Shackleton will have undoubtedly felt hard done by to his lose his place but you cannot argue with Farke’s decision based on how Byram performed.
It would be a surprise if both Ayling and Byram started all three of Leeds’ matches this week and so with that said, Shackleton is the next in line to step in across both positions.