What Ethan Ampadu is known for being ‘very good’ at behind-the-scenes at Leeds United after return from injury

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Ethan Ampadu finally made his long-awaited return from injury for Leeds United against Middlesbrough.

Ampadu was brought on as a late substitute at right-back in place of Sam Byram, who Daniel Farke confirmed afterwards was feeling a tough of cramp, having only just returned from injury himself.

The 24-year-old was out of action for around 10 weeks after suffering knee ligament damage in a win over Coventry City, and has been sorely missed.

That said, Ao Tanaka and Joe Rothwell have formed a superb midfield partnership in his absence, and were once again excellent against Middlesbrough.

Farke knows Ampadu is Leeds’ ‘most important‘ player, though, which is why he was put straight back into the squad against Derby, despite only being back in training for a week.

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What Ampadu is ‘known’ for behind-the-scenes at Leeds

During Ampadu’s absence, Pascal Struijk has been Leeds‘ captain, but that all changed as soon as the Wales international entered the pitch.

Struijk passed the armband straight back to Ampadu for the final five minutes of the match, showing the level of respect he has among his teammates.

Wilfried Gnonto and Largie Ramazani’s gesture to the Sky Sports camera about Ampadu just before Leeds’ win over Derby was yet another example of that.

The Yorkshire Evening Post have also shared what a key figure behind-the-scenes at Leeds Ampadu is, based on what he was doing in the warm-up ahead of Boro.

Ampadu and fellow Welshman Charlie Crew were reportedly having a ‘playful pre-match tussle’ in the rondo, someone he seems to have taken under his wing for club and country.

As per the report, Ampadu is known as being ‘very good’ with Leeds’ young players behind-the-scenes, having been in a senior, professional setup at just 15 himself.

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What Ampadu has said about Charlie Crew’s potential

Having recently been named in Wales’ senior squad during the most recent international break, Ampadu was asked about Crew’s potential in an interview.

Ampadu admitted he is a player he will always look to give advice to due to how good everyone at Leeds thinks he will be in the coming years.

He said: “It’s great to see, we know how good Charlie is as a player. Obviously, he’s at the start of his professional journey.

“So whatever advice I can give him, whatever he asks of me I try to help him along the way because we all know his potential and we want him to reach that.”