Confirmed: Jamie Shackleton fit for Leeds United vs Rotherham, late decisions on Djed Spence, Sam Byram, Georginio Rutter ‘Major Doubt’
Georginio Rutter is a “big doubt” for Leeds United’s Championship clash with Rotherham on Friday night, Daniel Farke has confirmed.
Rutter played for the France Under-21’s during the international break and hasn’t trained with the team ahead of the game, while Farke said the same can be said of trio Joe Rodon, Ethan Ampadu and Wilfried Gnonto.
The boss admitted he will have to make late decisions on his team, but there was good news on some other injured players during the break.
“Joe Gelhardt, also Jamie Shackleton and Djed Spence are with the team training since five days,” he said. “That’s definitely good news.
“Also some good news on Sam Byram. The recovery is much quicker than we expected but he was training today. Now we need to wait to see how the body reacts and then make a decision tomorrow.”
Go again
The international break probably came at a bit of a rubbish time for Daniel Farke, because the team was in a fantastic rhythm beforehand and winning games a lot.
There are a few injury issues too with Joe Rodon, Ethan Ampadu and Wilfried Gnonto playing a lot over the break for their national teams and so close to the game, while Stuart Dallas is still out injured and late decisions are expected to be made on a host of other players.
The loss of Rutter is also absolutely huge for the club considering his excellent form this season, but it represents a big opportunity for Patrick Bamford.
After missing a penalty against Stoke there were question marks about his future, but he now has a chance to score goals and show he has a role to play in a big game in the promotion hunt.
Farke will have big decisions to make, but hopefully the squad is strong enough to deal with it.
In other Leeds news, in-form star axed in predicted lineup vs Rotherham.