Max Wober and Willy Gnonto availability update from Javi Gracia – Early Leeds United team news vs Crystal Palace
Javi Gracia has revealed that he will still be without Max Wober as Leeds United welcome Crystal Palace to Elland Road on Sunday (9 April).
The Whites boss said in his pre-match press conference that playing games in such quick succession gives him no time to change the situation and he has the same players available as for the win over Nottingham Forest on Saturday (1 April).
That means that the Austrian defender will once again be missing after injury during the international break, as well as longer-term absentees Tyler Adams, Adam Forshaw and Stuart Dallas.
Willy Gnonto was back on the bench for that match but was an unused substitute and Gracia confirmed he is again available to be part of the squad.
The manager said, via the Yorkshire Evening Post: “We don’t have any news about injured players. We have the same players as we had for the last game.”
On Gnonto he added: “Willy was on the bench last game, available. He didn’t play but he was on the bench.”
Momentum
The not-unexpected set back at Arsenal on 1 April aside Gracia has certainly got his Leeds United side on a roll with 10 points since he took over.
Still only two points outside the bottom three he cannot afford to let up, but a win against Palace would put the Whites on top of the relegation battle.
Injury worries sprung up in a big way over the international break and threatened to halt the progress, but the Forest win has kept spirits high.
Jack Harrison and now Luis Sinisterra have returned to form at a crucial time, and Weston McKennie looks like he is starting to show the quality that could keep him at the club long-term.
But there is still room for improvement and a misstep at the weekend could alter the picture drastically if results elsewhere go the wrong way.
Few could complain about the job that Gracia has done so far, but a lot of the damage was done before he arrived so the margin for error remains vanishingly small.
In other Leeds United news, the club are about to spend six figures to land an attacking signing ahead of a host of big rivals.
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