‘Massive’ injury boost for Leeds United ahead of clash v Norwich after Bielsa update – pundit
We’re delighted to welcome former England goalkeeper Paul Robinson as our exclusive columnist as each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at Leeds United.
Paul Robinson hopes to see players who are returning from injury hit the ground running if they play for Leeds United at Norwich on Sunday.
Leeds’ squad has been depleted by fitness issues in recent weeks with Patrick Bamford, Kalvin Phillips and Luke Ayling among the key players who’ve missed fixtures.
Phillips return to the Leeds starting line-up on Tuesday night as they lost to Arsenal in the Carabao Cup but Bielsa was without Bamford, Raphinha, Ayling, Junior Firpo, Robin Koch and Jamie Shackleton for that game due to injuries.
While it remains to be seen whether Koch and Shackleton will be available to play against Norwich at Carrow Road on Sunday, Marcelo Bielsa did confirm last week that Bamford, Ayling and Firpo are in contention to play in East Anglia.
Speaking to the media last Thursday, Bielsa said Firpo has “chances of being back in the team” from Norwich onwards while also saying that “Ayling and Bamford are not going to be here for the next two games”.
Whether Bielsa meant that Ayling and Bamford will miss two Premier League games or the Wolves game in the league and the Arsenal match in the Carabao Cup remains to be seen.
However, Robinson is happy that Leeds are at least seeing light at the end of the tunnel in regards to their injury woes.
“The problem that Leeds have had is that they had injuries to key players. All the players on their injury list, every one of them is starter,” Robinson told MOT Leeds News.
“They’ve not just had injuries in and around the squad so they can cope with it. With the way Leeds play, the injuries they’ve had have been to players absolutely vital to the system. They’re some of the best players, which is huge.
“To have them all back, it goes without saying, it’s a massive boost for them. You hope they hit the ground running.”
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