Jesse Marsch reveals two-word verdict on Pascal Struijk fitness ahead of Leeds United vs Fulham

Whites head coach Jesse Marsch says he is ‘hopeful’ of a return to the matchday squad this weekend for defender Pascal Struijk.

The Dutchman was replaced in Leeds’ starting XI by Junior Firpo on Thursday evening as United were beaten 2-0 by Leicester City at the King Power Stadium. Widely regarded as one of the side’s better and more consistent performers this season, Marsch revealed prior to the team’s trip to the East Midlands that Struijk had picked up a small injury and would play no part. The American remains optimistic of Struijk’s return this weekend but could provide no guarantees of his availability.

"Yes, I'm hopeful [he’ll be back]. Let's see. I'm hopeful,” Marsch told reporters in his pre-match press conference ahead of Fulham’s arrival on Sunday. The 48-year-old was also bullish when asked about the club’s ability to prepare for the next game with such a tight turnaround.

"That part's okay,” he said. “We do a good job as a staff and I was at clubs that were in Champions League and played three matches a week all the time so that part we’ll be ready. We already kind of have a good idea of what that game is going to look like.”

Conducting his pre-match press conference for the weekend immediately after his post-match debrief at Leicester, Marsch could not provide a full injury update as is customary at the beginning of his press briefings, although he did suggest no new injuries had been picked up at the King Power.

“This is a brutal task to try to press conference for the next match right now. We have to first see physically, where guys are at and make sure that we have a team on the pitch that's ready to play at the highest level.

"From our physical team, we don't have a lot of injuries. We have a lot of guys that are ready to go again,” the head coach added.