Daniel Farke will be mulling the potential of changes to his Leeds United side to face Sheffield United this evening.
Farke had just 14/15 players in training on Wednesday with several members of his squad returning late from international duty.
Brenden Aaronson, Junior Firpo and Ao Tanaka were all in action across the other side of the world over the course of Tuesday and Wednesday, with the former’s game away in Mexico not finishing until around 5.30am BST on Wednesday morning.
However, Farke has been boosted by the fact both Manor Solomon and Dan James have returned to full team training. Perhaps one of those could be needed from the start.
Here is our predicted XI for the match.
Goalkeeper
Illan Meslier has had two weeks to stew on that error at Sunderland but Farke has backed him publicly and will keep his place in goal.
Defence
Firpo may well be among those late back from representing the Dominican Republic, but Leeds need him 100 per cent fit for a game such as this one.
Pascal Struijk and Jayden Bogle are among the non-internationals in Leeds’ squad who have had a nice rest, and will be joined in the defence by Joe Rodon.
Both Rodon and Bogle are actually walking a suspension tightrope right now but cannot afford to be off it defensively against a side like Sheffield United.
Midfield
Leeds have been looking at free agent midfielders over the last couple of weeks, with former Arsenal star Francis Coquelin reportedly the latest to be at Thorp Arch.
However, if anyone was to come in, they would be playing understudy to both Tanaka and Joe Rothwell, who will start together for the second successive match. Hopefully Tanaka feels fit after his 90 minutes for Japan.
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Attack
The front four is where Farke could be tempted to make a change or two, primarily due to Aaronson returning so late.
Farke confirmed Aaronson would be involved in some capacity, but perhaps it would be better to bring him off the bench against some tired legs.
If that was to be the case, it could see Wilfried Gnonto moving central, with the ‘unplayable‘ Solomon coming straight into the line-up. Farke made the point in his press conference it would be easier for him to start than James, as he has been out for less time.
Largie Ramazani and Joel Piroe are likely to make up the rest of the front four, though it would not be a surprise if Mateo Joseph returns.
Predicted XI: Meslier; Bogle, Rodon, Struijk, Firpo; Tanaka, Rothwell; Ramazani, Gnonto, Solomon; Piroe
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