Leeds United have no new injury concerns ahead of their Elland Road clash with Watford after an injury scare for a star man.
Daniel Farke has hinted at mild illness within the camp but he expects to have available the same side that dominated Sheffield United so impressively on Friday night.
The Whites are currently without long-term injury absentees Ethan Ampadu and Ilia Gruev in midfield. Ampadu is expected back from his knee injury in January while Gruev is rehabilitating from surgery on a knee problem of his own. The Bulgarian’s absence is anticipated to last months rather than weeks. Defender Max Wober has also gone under the knife for a knee issue but is ahead of schedule in his recovery and could even feature before the November international break.
Elsewhere in the squad Farke has almost a clean bill of health.
“No big concerns, no one picked up an injury during the game,” he said. “Sometimes at this time of year here and there a player is struggling a bit with symptoms of a cold or whatever but nothing that should disturb us from bringing our best possible line-up. Obviously we have our injured players but all the others are available.”
Leeds did have an injury scare over winger Willy Gnonto during the Sheffield United game, but he escaped without any more than a bruise. The Italian international went down early on in the game holding his shoulder and Farke had both Daniel James and Manor Solomon warming up in the fourth minute. Gnonto appeared to struggle with the pain for several minutes but stayed on the pitch.
“I was very close [to substituting him],” said Farke. “I brought Manor Solomon to the bench and had taken off his tracksuit, but Willy gave a signal that it was getting better. I was a bit nervous after the game, sometimes with adrenaline you can get through but there’s a serious injury. We scanned him and thankfully it was just a bruise so he is available.”
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