After a 12-day international break, Leeds United return to Championship action with a trip to Watford later today.
The Whites’ clash at Vicarage Road is the last match of the Good Friday calendar and will be hopeful of securing a 13th win in 14 league matches to ensure they remain in top spot.
Despite the mini hiatus from club football, it is fair to say the international period has not exactly been kind to Leeds, with the Welsh quartet going all the way to penalties on Tuesday night, and a couple of other players having reported back with injury issues.
Willy Gnonto (hamstring) and Ilia Gruev (ankle) were both labelled as doubts by Daniel Farke on Wednesday, though that was before either could have a proper assessment.
Leeds will be hoping neither of them have picked up anything serious, particularly given the availability of both Georginio Rutter and Junior Firpo is also uncertain.
Firpo only reported back from international duty with the Dominican Republic today, while Rutter underwent minor surgery on a hernia at the beginning of last week.
21-year-old produced his best Leeds display vs Watford, will be key again tonight
Farke seemed fairly optimistic that Rutter would be available for at least some minutes this evening, having already taken part in some team training by Wednesday afternoon.
His inclusion in the side would be a massive boost for Leeds given how important he has been, producing a consistent output despite having not been at his best recently due to injury.
Rutter still has a great opportunity to beat the Championship assists record of 19 in the final eight matches, but that will certainly require him featuring in all of them.
That starts with Watford, the side he undoubtedly produced his best performance in a Leeds shirt against at Elland Road back in September, in a 3-0 win.
Rutter only actually produced one assist that day, but some of his skills on the ball were bordering on the ridiculous. He was the key to breaking a stalemate which lasted almost 70 minutes.
Watford’s defence simply could not handle him all day, as he completed seven of nine attempted dribbles, made three key passes and won 11 of his 19 duels. A similar performance tonight would be great.
What Farke said about Rutter’s chances of playing for Leeds vs Watford
Leeds fans were anxiously waiting for an update from Farke on Rutter’s condition after news of his surgery broke during the early stages of last week.
It was about as positive as it could be given the situation, with Farke cautiously optimistic that he will be available for some minutes tonight.
He said: “We have the time to give the surgery for Georginio Rutter and because in the last weeks during the international break, he was terrific but played with pain.
“He was still there with many crucial moments but then it’s also quite normal you can transport an injury for a few weeks but not for months because at some point you will pay the price.
“He is on the road back, he was already involved in parts of team training. That was definitely a positive thing.”
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