Daniel Farke says three Leeds players could now miss Watford after international break

Daniel Farke had some bad news to bring on the injury front ahead of Leeds United’s trip to Watford.

The Whites were last in action 10 days ago but the majority of the squad have been away on international duty, and a handful of players have returned with fitness issues.

Farke did provide a positive update on Georginio Rutter after he underwent surgery on a minor hernia problem, and he has already returned to some parts of team training.

However, it is not such good news for others and Farke says there are three players who have returned from representing their respective countries reporting injuries.

Connor Roberts is, of course, one of them after limping off in the 84th minute of Wales’ play-off final defeat, with what is reportedly a thigh problem.

But there are also two more are now doubtful, too, with Willy Gnonto having returned from Italy U21s with a potential hamstring issue, and Ilia Gruev from Bulgaria with ankle pain.

Farke says three Leeds players are now doubtful for Watford

He said: “There are some more concerns, Roberts limped off, I hope it’s not too bad but let’s be honest if you limp off you’re usually not available two days later.

“The same with Willy Gnonto, he reported some hamstring problems after his game. Ilia Gruev reported problem with ankle ligament after the Bulgaria game – they are doubts.” Particularly at the back, if all three were to miss out it would leave Farke extremely short of options and force a major reshuffle to a defence which has been very settled recently.

Junior Firpo was already considered a doubt anyway having only finished his second game with the Dominican Republic in the early hours of this morning.

Sam Byram could well be his replacement at left-back, but he may also be needed on the other side if Roberts is out, as Archie Gray could move into midfield amid doubts over Gruev.

The other option would be to shift Ethan Ampadu back into midfield alongside Glen Kamara, with Liam Cooper at centre-back, but breaking up that partnership between him and Joe Rodon would not be ideal.

Farke says Rutter could be available for Leeds on Friday

In better news for Leeds, Farke did confirm that Rutter is very much on the comeback trail after his surgery at the beginning of last week.

Rutter has already returned to some aspects of team training and hopefully over the next 48 hours he will practically be back at full health ready for the run-in.

Here is what Farke had to say on him: “We have the time to give the surgery for Georginio Rutter and because in the last weeks during the international break, he was terrific but played with pain.

“He was still there with many crucial moments but then it’s also quite normal you can transport an injury for a few weeks but not for months because at some point you will pay the price. He is on the road back, he was already involved in parts of team training. That was definitely a positive thing