Every word Daniel Farke said on extended Leeds United injury absence and more in Preston press conference

Three 3-0 wins in a row, what's been the feeling around the club this week?

"Obviously, after successful games and also really good performances you always start in a good mood. It's been beneficial because of a bit more time between games to allow players at the beginning of the week to have two days off but then we started in a focused and concentrated manner to prepare for the next games. Obviously, we do this in a good mood and with confidence."

What has the team learnt from the two away defeats to West Brom and Preston?

"It's the Championship. When you play over three days it's quite normal when you have such a tight schedule that not all things go in your favour. You can lose games at this level and also perhaps a draw but you can lose games and when decisive moments in games go against you, like for example at Preston, we were able to equalise and we went for the winner and although we played an underload sometimes it comes together and in the 90th minute they put a wonder strike into the top corner and then you lose the game. Against West Brom we should have had two penalties before they were even the first time in our half. You don't get the penalties and they were able to score out of their more or less only chance in the game. It's a good side, really good defensive side and second best with us in the league. You can lose such games. You have to make sure that for each and every game at this level you are always on it, you play without mistakes, you are focused and don't allow your opponents to play an overload because you give the referee a decision to make. This is something especially my younger lads have to learn out of this but no major messages or lessons."

What are you expecting from Preston this week?

"A brave side I expect they will want to be the first to come away with three points from Elland Road. We have to make sure that this won't happen. We know we are in a good shape especially in the home games with consistency and results and consistency in the performances but that's never a guarantee you are going to be successful in the next game, so we have to be on it again from the first moment and we know that each and every home win was impressive in the end with many goals but it always starts with putting a shift in and being clinical to use the chances otherwise it could be difficult so for that we have to be on it from the first moment."

We have seen Djed Spence and Luke Ayling leave the club now, is full-back an area to strengthen?

"I like to be really open and transparent in the summer to speak about what we want to sign but January is always a bit complicated because the players that currently playing are not available or you have to spend crazy money and we don't have the chance to do this not because we are not ambitious but also due to the financial rules that we have to accept and for that it is always a bit tricky. To sign a player in January without having a pre-season and without having friendlies for example and he hasn't played for six months. It's difficult for this player to improve us. The general market is always tricky for that. I am always careful to speak too much about 'we need a player for this position'. Obviously, the group before this window was not too big. We have given two defensive-minded players away in Djed Spence and Luke Ayling and we have the topic with Charlie Cresswell, which will be decided in the next two weeks. Overall, it's definitely the case that we are not too big in numbers in our defensive positions and we are fully aware of this but we will speak about this month's business when this month's business is done."

A concern no incomings?

"Not a concern at all."

Does that mean you are confident things are in hand and will happen in the next week?

"Not a concern just because we have a quality group and we know we could do with some more additions in the defensive position we spoke about the positions that have left us or we have a topic due to injuries as well but I am not too concerned because also in the last weeks it was a chance for other players to step up who have not been too much involved at the beginning of the season, like Junior Firpo for example and I think you have seen him growing more or less from game to game or Ilia Gruev, who was fantastic in the last two games. We have options to deal with the situation but I won't lie, I know a few additions in the defensive position would be beneficial but we won't panic and just do some business out of panic reasons or crazy money. It has to make sense for us in the short, medium and long-term. We are working a lot in order to make something happen in the background but if not we go with what we have got. I trust my group and we have proven in the last games, especially in January so far, that we are competitive even in these circumstances. So for that we won't fall asleep and we are on it but it's not a major concern."

If nothing happens is it reasonable to accept this group could still push for automatic promotion?

"We are in a good position at the moment we didn't win this in the lottery. We have won this with really good development over the whole season. If you are sitting in such a good position you can keep going with this. It's not like we have lost one of our key players who offers us many goals or one of the regular starters in the defence like Joe Rodon or Archie Gray, who has played many games. We are capable of delivering performances and deliver performances with consistency and if it's enough to fight for the top positions in this league yes we will see but at the moment we are concentrated on trying to create the best possible squad for the upcoming month. For that we work on it and we keep going once this January window is over and we see what we have got.

Archie Gray looks like he is committing his future to the club. What have you done to improve his game?

"First of all, I trusted him to play which is the most important topic for a young player because in this business all clubs speak about the youth are our future and we trust them but quite often it means it's someone in eight, nine or 10 years if you get the chance. The most important thing is to bring players into important games when it's about everything. To trust them and bring them on the pitch this is what we have done with him. It's not credit to myself or my coaching staff all the credit goes to Archie for his development because obviously I love to work with players, especially with young players and I know I have the reputation of bringing many young players through all we can do is work with them on their positioning, passing skills, habits, defensive and offensive behaviour but what we can do is bring them closer to the door and back them and trust them and then it's up to the payer to step through the door, This development it's not like I have to be praised for this. It's Archie Gray and also his family who gave him his values and were there for him. They have to be praised because you see him growing each and every day. He has such a humble, focussed and professional work ethic this is crucial in order to make the next steps. He's still the first guy to pick up the goals and cones after training, he is still humble and knows exactly about his position. He's a young lad and not experienced like our leaders in the dressing room. I love this mentality and all the praise goes to Archie. It's a joy to work with this young lad each and every day but I will also keep on and hold the pressure high on him in order to improve him. He still has to learn a lot before we speak one day about the end product but he's on a terrific path."

Team news

"Mixed news I would say. Good news with Sam Byram. Full training week beneficial for him. I do fully expect him to be available for the next game. Good news for Liam Cooper he is back in team training, two sessions, and also the topic for the game on Sunday. We will have to see if it is really enough for 90 minutes but it's good that he is back in training and we have one more defensive option back in training. A bit of progress with Pascal Struijk but he is not back in team training yet, so I don't expect him to be involved in the coming weeks. He is out for Sunday and I don't expect him to return on Wednesday and then Saturday so he will be out for a bit longer. Willy Gnonto is a major doubt, he has some problem with his hip flexor and was not able to train in the last days or just part of team training. I would label him as a major doubt if he makes it into the matchday squad or not.

Matter of pride to ensure no one does the double over you this season?

"Yes, definitely."

You came in during a hectic summer but are you now aware of who is coming through behind Archie Gray and when players might be ready to start looking up to the first team?

"We always have an eye on what happens on our youth level. We are closely connected to the youth coaches. It's not possible to speak to them every day. My assistant coaches are also in touch but to be honest during January it's even a bit tricky because you have to be concentrating on what happens on the market. A bit more focus will be then from beginning of February from this topic on who can be involved in the next pre-season or the next months in a few training sessions or perhaps even if they develop in a proper way in a game day squad but at the moment January is a bit too busy you have to be aware of the market. If you say we focus just on the youth level it will be a bit more when this window closes."

Sam Byram managing him differently because of his injuries?

"First of all we were pretty happy with his development and no one would have predicted this. It was perfect to sign him but I have the same feelings. These last weeks were unlucky in a way due to the situation that we needed to force him perhaps after injury a bit too quick back on the pitch we also had a busy schedule. For that we try to be a bit more careful in training, for example we had one training day this week when he trained individually. We are aware he is a bit special, also due to his injury CV and also the feeling we don't want to rush him back too early into the starting line-up so that he has to have many, many minutes. For that it is quite good, and it is quite good that we have also in this position a few players back available like Junior Firpo, who is growing more and more. It's good for some to have a full training with the team without having a game so to build this resilience of his body in order to go hopefully back to what he has shown in the first month of the season when he was able to handle the load but I think we have to be a bit more careful with him."

Liam Millar and Archie match-up from last time. How do you ensure it doesn't happen again?

"He's a good player and it's never easy to defend him if it's Archie or one of our other full-back options; they have all delivered against top class players and many good performances. When I speak about Archie I have to say he has always delivered and never disappointed me when he was ready for the game even against the best wingers in this league. When I think about how he played against Ipswich and how he played away at Leicester against Ndidi, he controlled him and kept him totally quiet. There were perhaps two or three games when he was struggling a little bit and it was always after a very busy schedule for him. For example, at Preston a quick turnaround after a spotlight game, at Ipswich just two days between the games and also the way Archie plays with lots of intensity and always the highest distance in the team, lots of high-speed running. Stoke was another game with just two days between and I think the Norwich game when he came back after the international break just one day back in training and had to play three games during this period. You must not forget he is still a 17-year-old guy who adapts to play at this level with this physicality. He is doing really, really well. The good thing is we have had a normal week right now, all my players are really focused on this game and recovered, recreated and for that I am not concerned."

A loan going well like Joe Rodon's how big is the temptation to explore the possibility of that loan becoming permanent and how much is that part of discussions at the moment

"Behind the scenes we are working. There is no doubt about this. We are more than happy with Joe and his performances. His development is great and you also see him growing into this club more and more and into a leader role when you see him in his every day work you see how much it means to him to wear this white shirt and defend this white shirt in the games he's just happy to be here and happy to be an important part and crucial to our performances and development. For that we are more than happy and obviously we would like him to stay for a bit longer but at the moment it's not an urgent topic. He will stay with us until the end of the season. That's the most important thing. The next 12 days we have a few other things to concentrate on and then we can also concentre to plan a bit ahead to the summer. Joe is in our plans definitely for sure but he's not our player yet so depending on what the other parties think about this topic we will definitely try behind the scenes to do our stuff and obviously you know how much I like and value Joe. He's important for us as a team."