Jamie Shackleton absence for Leeds United v Swansea revealed after Daniel Farke comments
Leeds United will be without midfielder Jamie Shackleton for the trip to play Swansea tonight after his partner gave birth, according to Graham Smyth.
Writing on his personal Twitter account (13 February), the reliable journalist reports that the midfielder has become a father and that’s why he is deemed as unavailable by manager Daniel Farke for the game.
The boss told his pre-game press conference that the 24-year-old had recovered from the illness which saw him miss the last two games, but said he would be absent for “personal reasons”.
“Congratulations due to Jamie Shackleton and his partner on the birth of their son,” he wrote. “Hence why Farke said he was out of tonight’s game.”
Leeds United get positive news
Obviously with Shackleton recovering from injury it was made clear that he wasn’t missing the game hurt, but personal reasons could be a number of things.
Thankfully though it’s not bad news and instead he will be celebrating and becoming a more mature person, which will likely only help him in his professional career too.
So far this season we have seen him really come into his own and take responsibility when filling in as a make-shift right-back for most of his appearances, and also in midfield.
His contract at Elland Road is set to expire in the summer but there will be hope from fans that the player will get offered fresh terms as he has shown that he is capable of performing what the manager wants and to a good level.
Not every player in a 25 man squad can be a regular starter but the squad needs players who can step up and perform roles when needed and he fits that perfectly.
In other Leeds news, Liverpool want to sign two White stars with one of them a regular in Farke’s XI.
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