Before Leeds United and Southampton meet in the Championship play-off final, Daniel Farke provided an update on injuries.
Leeds’ last opportunity to guarantee an instant return to the Premier League is on Sunday, having lost out on the top two in the final weeks of the season.
It is difficult to argue that this wasn’t the appropriate championship game given that Leeds and Southampton were both demoted together a year ago and that they were third and fourth in the standings, respectively.
Before the game, a lot of analysts were having trouble picking between the two teams; Ally McCoist and David Prutton were among those who predicted Leeds to win on penalties.
But many others, notably former Crystal Palace owner Simon Jordan, who claims to have foreseen the Saints from the start, are also backing Southampton to win.
Before the play-off final, Farke provides an update on Patrick Bamford’s injury.
To advance to this point, Leeds overcame Norwich City 4-0 overall, however during both legs, Stuart Dallas, Pascal Struijk, Sam Byram, and Patrick Bamford were absent.
It took a while for Dallas and Struijk to be declared out for the season, but Bamford’s ailment has taken longer to identify. The £7 million player has been out longer than anticipated due to injury, missing the last four games.
Following Leeds’ victory against Norwich, Bamford stated that he will be “touch and go” for Sunday’s match at Wembley, depending on his ability to get back to the training field.
And now, Bamford’s injury has been updated, and Farke has revealed whether or not he will be able to play in the squad during his pre-game news conference.
“Not available and won’t be there,” he stated. Certainly loses out. This week’s problems are minor, but it appears like every player—including Byram, who resumed team practice yesterday—will be available. He will be in the squad if he does not respond.
Joel Piroe is probably going to be chosen for Leeds
It is quite unlikely that Farke would have added Bamford to the starting lineup right away even if he had been healthy.
Joel Piroe appears to have regained his form again after a difficult season finale, as evidenced by his perhaps best Leeds performance to date in the semi-final second leg.
In fact, the 24-year-old has scored twice in his previous two starts—one of which occurred on the last day against Southampton.
He has shown that he is unstoppable going into the championship, and maybe he can replicate his performance from the previous outing.
