Leeds United boss Daniel Farke reveals line-up rotation plan for Millwall FA Cup clash

The German insists Leeds are taking the game seriously and want to progress to the fifth round when they host the Lions at Elland Road, but the Championship fixture schedule is in his thinking when it comes to selection.

Leeds were in action on Wednesday night, beating Coventry City 2-0, and returned home late. Saturday's game kicks off at lunchtime and then they will return to league action away at Watford on Tuesday.

"We are used to a busy schedule and quick turnaround," said Farke. "Once you want to be successful in the Championship you have to get used to it. We're coming out of a tight schedule, there will be a tight turnaround afterwards. The players had a late arrival last night, not a proper night's sleep and we have just one day of preparation tomorrow [Friday] because today was a recovery day. Saturday we have the earliest possible kick-off with a lunchtime kick-off. We always rotate in a busy schedule. You know my attitude, one, two, three positions are normally healthy for a group but this game, due to the turnaround and games afterwards, we'll probably rotate more than one or two positions."

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Farke admits that changing the team in a more drastic manner could have downsides but he wants to balance cup ambition with safeguarding the squad from injury.

"It could be in terms of fluent and our rhythm it could be a bit tricky, the players have to get used to each other again," he said. "We want to be successful and want to use the chance to go through to the fifth round. We know it's not realistic to win the FA Cup but who knows? If we have a chance to go to the next round in front of a packed Elland Road we want to take it, without risking anything. We want to be there with a successful starting line-up. It's important not to do anything stupid."

The win over Harrogate Town in the last round came thanks to a strong and entirely senior squad, with none of the academy teenagers involved. Youngsters Charlie Crew and Joe Gelhardt have since moved out of the club on loan but Farke has hinted that James Debayo and Sam Chambers, who recently returned to training after injury, could see some involvement.

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Patrick Bamford, however, will not be available. Bamford has missed Leeds’ last six league games and the FA Cup win over Harrogate Town with a hamstring issue. The striker’s season has again been disrupted by niggles and to date he has made just 11 appearances, only one of which - the Carabao Cup defeat by Middlesbrough - was a start. Bamford’s game time has amounted to just over 200 minutes of action and he’s yet to score a goal this season.

"Who is available for training is always in my thoughts," said Farke. "The only one not in team training is Patrick. I hope he'll return at some point next week, we'll see. He's definitely not in the mix for Saturday. All the others are available and have a chance to be involved in the match."

The game will likely give Pascal Struijk a chance to get some more minutes as he works his way back to full fitness. Struijk was out with a hamstring injury and missed four Championship games but there was relief when a second scan of the area revealed there was no damage to a tendon and so he would not be unavailable for months. The centre-back has since returned to action, coming off the bench late on in the 7-0 win over Cardiff City and Wednesday night’s 2-0 victory at Coventry City.

Others like Willy Gnonto, Largie Ramazani and Mateo Joseph have had to settle for substitute cameos due to the form of Leeds' starting attacking options and they too could find themselves in the line-up to face Millwall.