Mateo Joseph axed as Isaac Schmidt call made - Leeds United confirmed XI v Sunderland

Leeds United manager Daniel Farke has made two changes to his Whites' starting XI for the clash with Sunderland on Friday 4 October.

The Whites boss has named his side to face the Black Cats at the Stadium of Light, with Ilia Gruev dropping out of the squad in its entirety with the Bulgarian international set to be sidelined for months [Graham Smyth, 3 October].

Joe Rothwell has taken the midfielder's place alongside Ao Tanaka, while Joel Piroe has come into the side in place of Mateo Joseph who drops to the substitutes bench.

Alongside the Spanish youth international, Isaac Schmidt has returned to the bench having missed the clash with Norwich City through injury last time out.

What has happened to Leeds United star Ilia Gruev at Elland Road?

It's safe to say that the last week or so has been one of the toughest in Leeds United's season so far as Farke has been handed several new injury issues to contend with just before the international break.

While the Whites aren't quite down to their bare bones, the German's options are becoming more and more limited with each passing day and he now has very few players to pick from.

That is going to make it hard to come away from the Stadium of Light with a result, particularly given Sunderland's impressive start to the season, but the Whites still have plenty of quality at their disposal to utilise.

Hopefully, what is left of the Leeds squad will be able to extend their unbeaten run to four matches in the Championship against the Black Cats to head into the international break with a little bit of positivity in their sails.

A win by two goals or more would even take them to the top of the table for a few hours at least.

In other Leeds United news, Ally McCoist has reacted to "nightmare" news out of Elland Road earlier this season

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