Leeds United: Dallas, Struijk and Darlow injury updates plus Bamford and Byram timescales

Farke will be without five players for Saturday lunchtime’s Championship clash at Plymouth Argyle for which Patrick Bamford (calf) and Sam Byram (hamstring) have joined longer-termers Stuart Dallas (femoral fracture), Karl Darlow (dislocated thumb) and Pascal Struijk (groin) on the sidelines.

Bamford and Byram are also expected to miss next Friday night’s top of the table clash against Leicester City at Elland Road with Farke admitting a return for either player for the Foxes contest would be a pleasant surprise. But next week is also set to provide new information on the injury to Struijk whose groin injury has kept the defender out longer than initially expected. Struijk, who had not featured since Boxing Day, is set for a rescan on his injury next week which Farke says will determine whether he can step up from his current individual training. Darlow, meanwhile, is on course to return within the next two weeks but Farke says no timescale can be given on Dallas on the long comeback trail from a femoral fracture.

Asked for updates on Dallas, Darlow and Struijk after providing the latest Bamford and Byram news, Farke said: "With Stuart it's the same. He gets all the time that he needs. He is out for so many months right now so it's not possible to speak about days or whatever.

"We back him, we give him all the time. He sees several different consultants and we try everything in order to work with him in the most professional way and hope that it works out in the end. We try everything to try and support him and I don't want to put any pressure on him in terms of giving a timeframe.

"With Karl Darlow, I mentioned in the last press conference it would be about two weeks. Right now it's a few days less so I hope that at some point he will then be available again so I expect him to be available for the games even before the March international break so he's not too far away from team training.

"And with Pascal, we spoke about that he will have an important rescan in the beginning of next week and then the doctors will decide if he can extend his training load. At the moment he is just doing individual training and I think he will have a bit clearer view in the middle of next week."

Farke was already without Byram, Struijk, Darlow, Dallas and Jamie Shackleton for Tuesday night's clash at Swansea in which Bamford was then lost in the warm up. Whites no 9 Bamford was set to continue his recent run of starts but reported some discomfort in the warm up and was replaced by Joel Piroe in the front line. Farke revealed post-match that Bamford's first reaction was that the injury was not too bad although it was hard to tell and the striker is now expected to be facing ten to 12 days out.

"Sadly not available for this upcoming game. Some problems with his calf,” said Farke. "We expect him not to be out for too long but he's definitely not available for this game. I also don't expect that he will be available for the upcoming game against Leicester.

"It would be a nice positive surprise if he makes it. We just think that he will be back for the cup game (at Chelsea) or perhaps the league fixture afterwards (Huddersfield). If he would be available for next Friday it would be a nice little surprise but he's out more or less overall for ten to12 days."

Farke also revealed that Byram was still out with a hamstring problems but that Shackleton was now back in the mix. Byram reported some minor muscle injuries in his leg after the weekend's victory against Rotherham and missed the midweek clash at Swansea. Shackleton, meanwhile, had returned to team training after recent illness but then missed the mid-week win at Swansea due to private reasons as his partner gave birth to the couple's first child.

Asked for an update on Byram, Farke revealed: “Hamstring problems, also not available for the game. The same with Patrick, I also don't think he will be ready for Leicester. If it's possible, it would be a nice little surprise but we will definitely have the next game and probably also the Leicester game without Patrick and without Sam.

"On the other hand, good news with Jamie Shackleton, he is back and available and ready to go. Obviously he had his injury and then really good news for him. We need each and every man so it's good that we have one more right now in our corner. He was of course a bit tired but a very happy man and it's good to have him back. Obviously we have our long term injuries with Stuart Dallas and also Pascal Struijk (and Darlow) but at the moment everyone else is fine."