Every Leeds United player away on international duty as 17 absentees cause midweek postponement

Leeds’ EFL Trophy campaign has been delayed further this week with news of Tuesday evening’s tie against Crewe Alexandra falling victim to the international break.

The match, set to take place at the Mornflake Stadium, has been postponed until November 1, meaning Leeds’ next fixture – Under-21 and first-team included – will be played on Friday, September 30.

United are already facing an unprecedented 29-day break between first-team games due to back-to-back Premier League postponements.

Reason given for Tuesday night’s rescheduling is that Leeds do not have enough players eligible for the Under-21s who will be remaining at Thorp Arch over the international break.

A total of 17 first-team and youth players will jet off to represent their various nations, with 29 squad members – fringe, academy and injured players included – will stay based at Thorp Arch.

Due to competition restrictions, Leeds are only permitted to field two players over the age of 21, which presents something of a problem, and would have left Under-21 head coach Michael Skubala with little option other than to select Under-18s if the game had gone ahead.

EFL Trophy rules dictate: “No more than two players who are aged 21 or over; and have made 40 or more appearances in a First Team Fixture (either in the starting eleven or as a playing substitute).”

Here is a full breakdown of which players will remain at Thorp Arch and those who are away on international duty this month:

THORP ARCH

Luke AYLING

Patrick BAMFORD

Liam COOPER

Stuart DALLAS

Junior FIRPO

Adam FORSHAW

Jack HARRISON

Robin KOCH

RODRIGO Moreno

Joel ROBLES

Marc ROCA

Pascal STRUIJK

Keenan CAROLE

Max DEAN

James DEBAYO

Cody DRAMEH

Connor FERGUSON

Joe GELHARDT

Mateo JOSEPH

Harvey SUTCLIFFE

Sam GREENWOOD

Sean McGURK

Amari MILLER

Kris MOORE

Darryl OMBANG

Joe SNOWDON

Morten SPENCER

Crysencio SUMMERVILLE

Dani VAN DEN HEUVEL

INTERNATIONAL DUTY

Brenden AARONSON (United States)

Tyler ADAMS (United States)

Kristoffer KLAESSON (Norway U21)

Mateusz KLICH (Poland)

Rasmus KRISTENSEN (Denmark)

Diego LLORENTE (Spain)

Alfie McCALMONT (Northern Ireland U21)

Illan MESLIER (France U21)

Luis SINISTERRA (Colombia)

Charlie ALLEN (Northern Ireland U21)

Ben ANDREUCCI (Scotland U19)

Jeremiah MULLEN (Scotland U19)

Wilfried GNONTO (Italy)

Darko GYABI (England U19)

Sonny PERKINS (England U19)

Scott GODDEN (Wales U19)

Leo HJELDE (Norway U21)