Leeds United: Captain Liam Bridcutt prepares for training ground return

Leeds United's Liam Bridcutt (right) is given treatment during the Championship match at Elland Road against Huddersfield in September. Picture: Danny Lawson/PA.

Bridcutt limped off after 49 minutes of the Championship clash with Blackburn Rovers at Elland Road on September 13 and has missed United’s next 12 games since.

But the midfielder finally returned to running on the grass this week and Whites head coach Garry Monk is now optimistic that the 27-year-old will join in training with his team-mates at some point next week.

Speaking ahead of Saturday’s Championship trip to Rotherham United, Monk insisted it was too early to pencil in when Bridcutt would return to United’s first team - or even when he would feature for the club’s under-23s - but said: “He’s back on the pitches running now so that’s good to see.

“We are hoping that at some point either early next week or the end of next week he might be able to join back in with some of the trainings with us.

“And then it will be a process of assessing how he is.

“He’s obviously quite a naturally fit lad so it’s understanding what the player can do and what he can’t and making sure that we have got the right plan in for place for him to get him back to full fitness.

“But until we get him back into the training which hopefully will be the start of next week or later next week we won’t really be knowing exactly what his timescale will be until we get to that point.”