Leeds United boss Daniel Farke gives Junior Firpo injury update and makes Wilfried Gnonto admission
Leeds United manager Daniel Farke has conceded Junior Firpo may miss the clash with Middlesbrough after limping out of the win over Derby County.
Firpo was withdrawn after just 21 minutes at Elland Road and replaced by Max Wober, who scored his first goal for the club to double the home advantage.
Speaking after his side’s 2-0 victory, Farke revealed Firpo has picked up a hamstring problem and that he is a doubt for the midweek meeting with Middlesbrough.
“With Junior, it was a hamstring problem. It’s pretty fair to say that he will probably miss the game on Tuesday,” Farke said “I don’t think he will be available.
“We have to see what it actually is and how long he will be out but I think probably not before Tuesday.”
When Farke named his starting XI, the absence of influential attacker Wilfried Gnonto raised some eyebrows among the Elland Road faithful.
The Leeds boss has claimed there was more than one reason for his decision to replace the Italian with Manor Solomon.
“We have lots of competition in the winger positions,” Farke said “Willy has played the last two games. We have also have a busy week with three games in seven days.
“Also, I have to say to the other players such as Daniel James and Manor Solomon, they were pretty effective [with] end product in the last games.
“I was happy with Willy’s performances but a little bit, when he was in the starting line-up, the end product, he scored when he came from the bench. I had this in my head a little bit.
“Also, the yellow cards, because right now is the cut-off day [for suspensions]. We need to have him available, but also for this week, due to the upcoming week. We want to share the load a bit, especially in this position, we have a lot of competition and it’s also important to mix it up a bit.”