Leeds United manager Daniel Farke on why time was right for Pascal Struijk surgery and why Crysencio Summerville award is not important to him

An international break after Plymouth Argyle's weekend visit means the Whites have only five matches in the next month, a light schedule by Championship standards.

With that in mind, manager Farke has decided to send one of his key players for surgery now.

As he showed in his reaction to Crysencio Summerville's player of the month award, Farke is all about the team, not individuals, but Struijk is an extremely important one.

He has so far played every minute in the Championship this season, and wore the captain's armband in the last five matches. Such is Leeds' squad depth, they can bring club captain Liam Cooper in against the Pilgrims on Saturday.

"He has problems on both hernias," revealed Farke. "He's had problems for six months, even during pre-season, but he's been able to deliver really good performances.

"I got the feeling he was down after the last game because he felt so much (pain) and we needed to cheer him up.

"I told him he played better at 80 per cent than 100 per cent last season, if I am honest! It was not enough to convince him to keep going.

"It’s definitely the right decision because you can’t push a player through such a long period. You can do this for a few weeks but it’s definitely the right call to have this surgery because I am pretty sure if he comes back and plays without pain he will improve his consistency."

Leeds have other injury and illness concerns for the weekend, but Farke says he will just get on with it.

"I am used to adapting to reality," he said. "Liam, Charlie (Cresswell), Ethan (Ampadu) and even Sam Byram can play there (at centre-back).

"It would be a problem if he would be out for 10 or 12 games, but this won’t happen.

"We need to find solutions in the other players and for them, it’s a chance to shine and be involved. They have my backing and trust."

Summerville has been named Championship player of the month for October and although Farke was pleased for him, it cut little ice.

"I think there is hardly another sport in the world where individual awards are as unnecessary as in football," he said. "We win together, we lose together, offensive players can't shine without the defenders and a defender or goalkeeper can't shine without the work of the players up front, a coach can't shine without his team and the other way around. Sometimes you need some proper leadership from the coaching staff and whoever to shine.

"It's always about the team.

“In my second title-winning season in English football when it was a big sensation when we won the league with Norwich with 97 points and nearly 100 goals, the best season in the history of Norwich with a bunch of lads not good enough to get contracts in the second tier in France, Germany or Spain and some young guys from the academy, I was not manager of the season and I was never manager of the month but I was not bothered.

"The only thing that matters is to be successful with the team.

"I'm happy for Cree because he 100 per cent deserves it and for the player it's sometimes a confidence boost because they're a bit younger than me and for young human beings it's sometimes important to get feedback and recognition.

"As a group we're not bothered about it. It's important not to take it too seriously.

"But it's well deserved not just because of his goals, assists and really good performances but also the workload he’s put in.

"When I think of the Leicester game and the shift he put in, the number of times he was willing to work back and help Sam Byram defend the wingers – when you show this attitude to help the team it's totally okay to win individual awards.

"Nowadays we have to create more and more individual awards because it's a big topic for the public and it's nice to get some pictures for social media and for marketing – the club will be happy and I'm quite sure there will be nice pictures.

"But for me the most important picture is when he celebrates a great block on the wing or when he is there with a goal."

Joe Gelhardt (hand) and Jamie Shackleton (glute) are expected back in full training during the international break and Djed Spence (knee) shortly afterwards. Stuart Dallas will not train with Northern Ireland despite manager Michael O'Neill's invitation as he is not ready to do so yet for Leeds but Farke will have no problem with him joining up with his team-mates if his days off during the international break allow.

Patrick Bamford missed training on Monday and Tuesday with illness and Cresswell has been absent for “private reasons”.

Meanwhile, Festive games against Ipswich Town (home, December 23, 12:30pm), Preston North End (away, December 26, 12:30pm) and West Bromwich Albion (December 29, 8:15pm) have been moved for live Sky Sports coverage.