Leeds United's Georginio Rutter withdraws from international duty ahead of Championship run-in

Georginio Rutter has withdrawn from this month's France U23s squad, the French Football Federation has confirmed.

The Leeds United forward played 90 minutes against Millwall on Sunday afternoon before being replaced by Joel Piroe in stoppage time, with the three points already wrapped up. The Frenchman didn't appear to have an issue as he left the field and could be seen celebrating on the Elland Road turf after the full-time whistle.

However, while the reason remains unclear, Rutter has been forced to pull out of Thierry Henry's squad. He played a key role against the Lions last weekend as Leeds managed to hit the Championship summit and he'll have an important role to play over the final eight games of the season with the promotion push set to intensify.

As such, Daniel Farke will have his fingers crossed that Rutter will be fit enough to be involved on the other side of the international break, should his withdrawal be through injury.

Rutter had been due to travel to France as the U23s begin their preparations for this summer's home Olympics, which is surely something the 21-year-old is keen to be involved in. Henry's side will play friendlies against their Ivory Coast and USA counterparts. Lyon's Rayan Cherki has been called up in Rutter's place, with the group due to meet up this afternoon.

The former Hoffenheim man has played a lot of football for Leeds this season, starting all but two games for the Whites in the Championship and making a total of 40 appearances across three competitions, such is his importance to Farke's side. He probably hasn't hit the back of the net as often as he would have liked in that time, scoring just seven goals, but his 17 assists make him one of the most creative players plying their trade outside the top flight at present.