Leeds United boss Daniel Farke has ruled three players out of their trip to face Manchester United on Monday.
Our rivals from across the Pennines bring to an end our 24-day break without a game, with the March internationals being followed by the Emirates FA Cup quarter-finals last weekend.
The Yorkshire outfit played West Ham United in that round of the competition last time out, and recorded a dramatic penalty shootout victory in the capital, after the Hammers forced extra-time with two stoppage-time goals.
Leeds booked their spot in the semi-final, where they'll face Chelsea, but they didn't escape the London Stadium unscathed.
In his pre-match media briefing with journalists ahead of his side's visit to M16 on Monday, Farke confirmed that Anton Stach and Joe Rodon have picked up ankle injuries in that clash and will not be available to face the Reds.
“Not the best news today, in general,”
the Whites boss told reporters. “Anton Stach will definitely miss the game on Monday, [with an] ankle injury after the cup game.
”Also, Joe Rodon will miss the game, also an ankle injury for him.“
Germany international Stach has enjoyed an excellent debut campaign in the Premier League, while Wales centre-back Rodon is a rock in defence for the visitors.
Former United man Daniel James is also set to be absent, as he was for the FA Cup tie, due to a muscle problem.
“Daniel James [will] also miss the game,”
Farke confirmed. “So he had, sadly, an adductor strain just in the session before the cup game and won't be available.”
The German coach went on to list Jaka Bijol, Noah Okafor and Gabi Gudmundsson as doubts, but he retains some hope that ours being the last fixture of the matchweek will allow them extra time to fully recover.
Farke added: “All three of them are doubts. So if you would play the game already tomorrow, then all three wouldn't be available.
”We have a bit more time and I am hopeful that I have all three of them also ready.“
PRE-SEASON 2026 ANNOUNCED
It has recently been confirmed that we'll play Monday night's opponents, Leeds, as part of our pre-season preparations for next season, this summer.
We're set to face the Elland Road outfit on Wednesday 12 August at Croke Park in Dublin, with tickets for the 19:30 BST kick-off set to go on general sale this Friday.
Four more warm-up matches were announced earlier, with the Reds set to face Wrexham in Finland, Rosenborg in Norway, and Atletico de Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain in Sweden.