Daniel Farke had mixed injury news in his news ahead of Leeds United’s return to the Championship game against Burnley.
The Whites have had a couple of weeks since their last game against Burnley to get some bodies back, although it wasn’t necessarily the case.
Dan James was tipped to return this weekend after picking up a hamstring injury a week before the win over Hull City, but he has suffered another setback and could now be out until after the international break.
Max Wober, meanwhile, has recovered from a hamstring injury and sat on the bench against Hull City, but now has another knee problem.
Wober’s availability is now questionable again for the weekend after missing Austria’s 2-1 defeat by Norway in midweek.
Farke says Patrick Bamford must rule Leeds this season
Apart from James, Patrick Bamford was the only absentee against the Tigers following a similar problem to the Welshman.
Bamford missed both wins against Sheffield Wednesday and Hull City, having also been sidelined for much of pre-season with an injury picked up late in the 2023/24 campaign.
However, Farke was given a fairly positive update on Bamford’s condition in a press conference ahead of Burnley, confirming he is now back in squad training.
However, due to the amount of injury problems he has faced in recent years, he simply needs to be treated with caution.
He said: “Patrick has been back in team training since Tuesday, today was his third day. When you come back you’re also available, but there’s a difference between being available and playing 90 minutes.
“He was out of team training for 11 weeks, then he came back in the latter stages of pre-season and then got dropped. We’ll be careful with him. It’s definitely good that he’s back in team training, it’s going to be an important season”.
Leeds can no longer trust Bamford
Until now, Leeds have relied heavily on Bamford for that ninth spot. But this season is finally different.
Mateo Joseph has started all four of Leeds’ league games so far this season and has stepped up in each game, scoring his first goal of the season last time out.
Joseph’s appearance certainly came at the right possible time, as Neil Redfearn suggests that Bamford simply cannot be trusted anymore.
He said: “You need strikers. You can’t rely on Bamford, he’s never fit. That’s the problem. You need a striker who’s the same as Joseph off the bench because he’s going to go down at some point. The strikers are the key.”