Leeds United dealt triple injury blow ahead of Sunderland clash as key midfielder awaits scan news

Leeds United are nervously awaiting news on another potential injury blow ahead of their Friday night visit to Sunderland.

Whites boss Daniel Farke is already without the services of captain Ethan Ampadu, who is likely to remain on the sidelines until the new year after suffering a knee ligament injury in last weekend’s 3-0 home win against Coventry City. There was a further blow for Farke on Tuesday night when Bulgarian international midfielder Ilia Gruev suffered a knee injury during a 1-1 draw at Norwich City. The Whites boss could be forced to hand a first start to on-loan Bournemouth midfielder Joe Rothwell at the Stadium of Light - but he will await news of scan Gruev will undergo on Wednesday evening before making a final decision over the latter’s involvement.

Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Farke said: “We are still awaiting a further assessment. He will have a scan a little bit later today and I can tell you a little bit more this evening perhaps. It looks a bit better, he doesn't feel that bad but we will wait for the scan.”

Wales international Daniel James is definitely out of the game and is not expected to return to contention until after this month’s international break and Farke has admitted the visit to Wearside ‘comes a bit too soon’ to on-loan Tottenham Hotspur winger Manor Solomon. However, the Whites boss did reveal a more positive assessment on summer signing Isaac Schmidt, who will be included in the squad for Friday night if he comes through a training session on Thursday after suffering a glute injury.

“Like always a few hits and knocks after a really competitive game but no one was ruled out for the game, at least not today,” explained the former Norwich City boss. “We have a few injured players from the last weeks.

“It looks a bit better with Isaac, we'll give it a go in our last training session before the game and if he comes through he could be available but I expect him to be the only one who comes back. We were hoping [Solomon] could be involved today in training but it was not impossible so I expect the game comes a bit too soon for him and we go with what we've got.”