Leeds United manager Daniel Farke has confirmed that both Max Wöber and Patrick Bamford will be unavailable for his side’s upcoming Championship clash against Sunderland at Elland Road on Monday evening.
Sunderland head to Yorkshire aiming to close the seven-point gap between themselves and Leeds, who currently sit at the top of the table.
The Whites have been in outstanding form recently, securing a dominant 4-0 victory over Watford in midweek. However, they will face Sunderland without the services of defender Wöber and striker Bamford.
Speaking about Wöber’s absence during a press conference on Friday afternoon, Farke said: “We expect him just to be back more or less after the next international break in March, and he’s out for six weeks.”
Regarding Bamford, Farke added: “Sadly the last days were not ideal in terms of his re-up process. He will need another probably ten days of individual re-up training, so he won’t return back to team training before the Sheffield [United] game, and then hopefully in a couple of weeks we’ve got him back.”
When questioned if Bamford’s absence was due to a hamstring issue, Farke clarified: “Yes, a little awareness, so obviously the final stages he needs to be there with full ability to sprint, so that’s not the case yet, and for that he needs ten more days of individual re-up training, so we expect him then to join us in team training more or less after the Sheffield game.”
Aside from Wöber and Bamford, Leeds are in a relatively strong position injury-wise. When asked if such a clean bill of health is unusual at this stage of the season, Farke responded:
“We had also a pretty good spell in the beginning of the season when many players were available, but especially during this month, January, February, March, after a long season, especially in the Championship, quite often you have to deal with a few injuries.
“Touch wood – apart from those two, okay, Patrick, a bit longer-term injury, and with Max’s ongoing problem over the season – to have everyone available is quite good, and also important and crucial. There are many games to play, and for that, of course, you want to have the players available and also in the best possible shape, and when everyone is ready to go and fit, then it’s more or less the best situation you can have as a manager, yes. So apart from Max and Patrick, we’ve got a pretty good situation.”
The last meeting between Sunderland and Leeds took place at the Stadium of Light in October, where the Black Cats secured a 2-2 draw in dramatic fashion. The match ended in bizarre circumstances after Leeds goalkeeper Illan Meslier made a stoppage-time error, gifting Sunderland a late equalizer.
