Leeds United chiefs glued to trio of fixtures for Willy Gnonto and Max Wober injury solutions

Any player coming back from national team duty with even a knock is less than ideal, but the sight of Max Wober coming off injured in the first half for Austria against Azerbaijan was bad enough before Italy's Willy Gnonto limped out early on in a win over Malta.

Wober, a January signing, has been one of the most consistent performers since his arrival from RB Salzburg and alongside Robin Koch has formed a solid centre-half partnership.

As for Gnonto, his impact from the moment he broke into the team after having to bide his time under Jesse Marsch has been remarkable, particularly for one so young. At times Leeds' biggest attacking threat, the diminutive winger has picked up two assists in his last two Premier League outings.

Injuries to these two players, however serious they might be, feel especially cruel and damaging for a side still in the relegation fight and eyeing the trickiest of away trips to Arsenal on Saturday.

And yet the Leeds squad has been built in such a way that both of these problems have more than adequate solutions already in place.

With Wober out, club captain Liam Cooper could step back in having returned to fitness immediately prior to the break. Alongside the skipper on the bench for the win at Wolves sat Pascal Struijk, a 23-year-old who could well be the natural successor and eventual upgrade on Cooper. Struijk's 2020/21 performances at centre-half were of an impressively-high standard and even if he hasn't played regularly at the heart of the defence since March of last year, he is now a 77-game Premier League veteran.

Left-sided centre-back is arguably the squad's strongest position, with three good options.

Should Gnonto's ankle sprain be sufficient to rule him out of the Emirates clash, Javi Gracia can play Crysencio Summerville in his place.

Against Wolves, in a late cameo, Summerville put together a mighty argument for more minutes against Arsenal. He showed improved physicality, barging Pablo Sarabia off the ball and winning a throw in a contest with Nathan Collins. He used the ball expertly, at a time when Leeds needed to be smart and efficient in possession, linking up excellently with Rodrigo to first create a chance for the striker to hurt Wolves in behind and then sending the Spaniard clear on goal to score the fourth.

Barring a clumsy aerial challenge that conceded a free-kick on the edge of the area, it was a mature performance from the 21-year-old, who went away with the Netherlands Under 21s and duly scored a beautiful goal against Norway.

Jack Harrison, with two goals and two assists in four games, has hit a purple patch for goal contributions and almost certainly booked his starting place in London.

There is also the £21m matter of Luis Sinisterra, who might not have been fit enough to join up with Colombia following his latest injury, but did make the last two Leeds matchday squads and with a fair wind over the international break should be in line for greater involvement as a replacement at Arsenal.

Unless Sinisterra has made enormous, almost unprecedented strides since the Molineux trip, however, the expectation would be for Summerville to get the nod from the start this weekend in Gnonto's presumed absence.

So all told, what might have been a disastrous, panic-inducing weekend could just be a concerning irritation, if Wober and Gnonto's issues are so minor as to be short-term.

Where Leeds look lighter is in the centre of midfield, thanks to that pre-Wolves loss of Tyler Adams for what the club said was a hamstring injury of unknown severity. Gracia's revelation that his midfield enforcer was seeing a specialist did little for optimism, and although Weston McKennie and Marc Roca were not dominant in the middle at Molineux, they and Leeds did enough to win 4-2. If Adam Forshaw's absence continues then the options beyond McKennie and Roca, namely Darko Gyabi, Sam Greenwood and Archie Gray, are a lot less experienced but hold potential.

The caveat to all of this is that Gracia's three likeliest replacements for Wober, Gnonto and Adams could all still see international action in the next day or so.

Summerville and the Dutch 21s face Czech Republic in a friendly on Monday afternoon. McKennie and the US Men's National Team are in CONCACAF Nations League action at home to El Salvador just after midnight on Tuesday morning and then Tuesday evening brings Scotland's Euro qualifying clash with Spain. Liam Cooper's involvement is perhaps the unlikeliest of the trio, but Gracia, head of medicine and performance Rob Price and Leeds will still be watching with bated breath.

Beefing up the squad in the last two windows was designed to better protect the club in these exact situations and, as it stands, they will go to Arsenal in less than ideal circumstances but still reasonably well set.