Daniel Farke: Patrick Bamford ruled out injured for Leeds United v Plymouth Argyle
Daniel Farke has confirmed Leeds United will be without a senior trio for the Championship clash with Plymouth Argyle on Saturday afternoon.
Patrick Bamford will miss the game with a calf problem after withdrawing from the starting lineup against Swansea during the warm-up, while Sam Byram is also out with a hamstring problem.
Pascal Struijk also remains out of contention due to an adductor problem, but Jamie Shackleton is back in contention after missing the midweek game due to the birth of his child.
“Sadly not available for this upcoming game, some problems with his calf,” Farke said, as quoted by Yorkshire Evening Post (16 February).
“We expect him to be out not too long. I don’t expect he’ll be back for the upcoming game against Leicester. It would be a nice positive surprise if he could. He’s out for 10-12 days.
“Hamstring problems [for Byram]. Also don’t think he’ll be available for the Leicester game.”
Leeds United squad is strong enough to cope
The Whites have got one of the best squads in the entire Championship division, and a few injuries shouldn’t be too big of a problem for Farke.
Bamford dropped out of the team late against Swansea, but Joel Piroe came into the team and scored with his first chance of the game to show that he is capable of stepping up.
At full-back Archie Gray has been excellent on the right while Junior Firpo has emerged as the first-choice left-back and while Byram provides great cover, Shackleton returning to the squad means that he will be able to offer similar cover.
Pascal Struijk has been missing for a little while now but the team have coped brilliantly by moving Ethan Ampadu to central defence and allowing Ilia Gruev to shine in central midfield.
It’s a serious squad right now and a few injuries shouldn’t be enough to derail the club’s perfect form in 2024.
In other Leeds news, pundit moots permanent transfer talks to be held in the summer for one star.
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