Lees faces weeks on sidelines after suffering retina damage

Lees missed Tuesday night’s 1-0 defeat at Burnley after undergoing medical scans 24 hours earlier, and is set to be ruled out of United’s forthcoming games against Watford and Millwall.

The England Under-21 international was hurt in bizarre circumstances during the first half of Leeds’ 2-2 draw with Brighton last week.

An unintentional blow to the face temporarily blinded Lees in one eye, forcing him to leave the field shortly before half-time.

He underwent hospital treatment on the south coast before travelling home, with manager Neil Warnock describing the injury as “a worry”.

Warnock has now confirmed that the centre-back will be sidelined for a number of weeks, an absence which could see him sit out as many as five Championship matches.

Warnock said: “He’s going to be a few weeks and that’s if we’re fortunate. He’s got a little hole in his retina.

“It’s quite a common thing and not as serious as it sounds. He was poked in the eye and apparently it takes a couple of weeks to heal.”

Lees has been almost ever-present in Warnock’s line-up this season, starting 16 games in succession before dropping out of the side at Burnley.

The injury sustained at Brighton ended a troubling week for Lees, who was told ahead of the trip south that he was to be charged by Serbian police over his involvement in a brawl between the England and Serbia Under-21 squads in Krusevac last month.

Meanwhile, there was fresh conjecture in the takeover of Leeds by Dubai-based GFH Capital last night.

Reports claimed the sale of the club could be finalised by this weekend, but a senior source at GFH Capital said a conclusion in that timescale was “unlikely”.

The source said: “We’re getting there and this really is in the final stages.

“I wouldn’t rule out a deal before the weekend but I think it’s unlikely. We’ve still got documents to process and work to complete. But the deal’s very close.”