Championship: Sunderland's promotion rivals Leeds United handed huge three-week injury blow
Leeds United have been handed a monumental injury blow ahead of the Championship promotion run-in
Sunderland’s promotion rivals in the Championship have been handed a significant injury blow as the race for the automatic spots hots up.
The Whites have announced that key defender Struijk Pascal is expected to miss at least the next three weeks, after picking up a muscle injury last Wednesday. Sunderland play Leeds United on the 17th of February with the defender due back around 10 days before the Elland Road clash if all goes well.
Leeds United boss Daniel Farke said on the injury: “Out of precaution, he had a scan and sadly it's a muscle injury. He will definitely miss the next three weeks, he won't be involved in the games in January and early February."
"There's a small chance that the tendon is involved, right now it's too difficult to judge. Once the fluid in the muscle has settled, we can rescan him in the middle of next week to get a better timeframe. If the tendon was involved, then it would be a significantly longer rehab for him, and we would not just be speaking about three weeks, but three months.”
Farke added ahead of Leeds United’s upcoming Championship fixtures against Sheffield Wednesday and Norwich City: "At the moment we are cautiously optimistic and it looks alright, so hopefully, fingers crossed it's just the three weeks," the German concluded.
Struijk has made 26 appearances for the Whites this season, scoring three goals and helping the side keep 15 clean sheets. The centre-back is rated as one of the best in the league statistically.