Daniel Farke pre-Plymouth press conference every word on doubtful Leeds United pair, Struijk injury and Gnonto
and live on Freeview channel 276
Leeds United will sign off for the November international break with Saturday's Championship hosting of Plymouth Argyle, ahead of which Whites manager Daniel Farke held his pre-match press conference today.
Farke's third-placed side are approaching the weekend's 3pm kick-off against the newly-promoted Pilgrims on the back of Friday evening's superb 1-0 win at leaders Leicester City which closed the gap on both the Foxes and second-placed Ipswich Town.
Farke spoke to the media at 1.30pm at Thorp Arch and here is every word from United's manager.
Leeds United v Plymouth Argyle: Daniel Farke press conference every word
Key Events
- 1.30pm press conference at Thorp Arch
- Leeds v Plymouth, 3pm Saturday at Elland Road
Let’s start with an injury update?
"Yes, a few topics like you mentioned. Gelhardt is good news, didn’t need surgery on his hand but will miss this game. I hope he can join training during the international break and on the other side to be reinvolved. The same with Shackleton, was a strain on his Glute and will miss this game, hopefully back very soon. Spence is in his final stages of rehab, I hope he will be back on the other side of the window in training, then pretty soon available for the games. We had an addition to that, Dallas at the moment is training, hopefully he can join team training soon. Sadly also, bad news, Pascal Struijk will miss the game on Saturday. In the recent weeks and months he had a problem with a hernia, the last game was pretty painful so we decided to send him to London for surgery. It’s not too bad but he will miss this game, we hope to have him back after the international break. It’s too soon to give you an exact time, but he will miss this game and that is what I can confirm. There’s little question marks over Bamford, he missed the sessions early this week due to illness, so we will see how he reacts after a light session today. I hope he’s available. Charlie Cresswell has missed sessions early in the week due to private reasons, so I hope he’s back now."
Is Pascal a double or single hernia?
"He’s got problems on both, so it’s too early to speak about a timeframe and we will await the assessment. He delivered good performances even though he had these problems for months but after the last game it was too painful. With so many games coming up it was a smart solution to use the international break to have time to recover. I hope he doesn’t miss too many games and will be available."
Joe Rodon has been talked about highly, Rob Page [Wales manager] has said he’s gone up another level, are you able to confirm he can stay beyond January?
"Joe will stay with us. He’s an important player for my plans and it is important we have stability. I am happy and pleased with his development, he has to keep going and that’s important. So far so good but it is always about the next game. We have to make sure we are there with good performances and he has been brilliant so far."