Leeds United potential surgery for 'heartbroken' attacker may influence January transfer plan as Whites prepare for Chelsea

Leeds United have been hit with a hammer blow with the news that a key attacker might need hamstring surgery.

Dan James made his first start since August in the defeat at Man City on Saturday but that has come at a cost after he injured his hamstring tendon. Leeds hope to be able to treat it conservatively rather than send him for surgery but even without an operation he could be missing for two months.

Daniel Farke revealed the news amid his preparations for Wednesday's clash with Chelsea, for which Anton Stach will be available again. Stach missed out at the Etihad on Sunday due to concussion protocols after landing awkwardly in the game against Aston Villa but has recovered.

"Good news with Anton, since Sunday he's back in team training and definitely available," said Farke. "Sadly on the other side some disappointing news with Daniel James, his hamstring tendon is injured and he will be sidelined. It depends if he needs surgery or not. As it stands it looks like we could do it in a conservative way but even that will mean he misses eight weeks. As it stands we have to expect he's out for two months, could be worse with surgery."

The news has left the winger 'heartbroken' according to his manager, who said Leeds took every caution to reintroduce him gradually as he returned from his previous injury.

"It's tough," said Farke. "Everyone knows how much I love Daniel James. He was a key player for me [last season]. Started the season, although he missed the end of last season and major parts of pre-season. He has fought so hard to be back in his best shape, we were extra careful, gave him more and more minutes. We thought he was physically ready to play longer than 30 minutes. He has worked so much to be back in his best shape, he was so motivated. I've never seen him so disciplined with recovery and nutrition. He was a bit heartbroken but there are worse things in life and you can have worse injuries. I will allow him one or two days to be down and then back in rehab because we need him back."

A serious injury in an area that Leeds wanted to but failed to strengthen in the summer is a particularly nasty blow for Farke, who admits it may influence the club's thinking in the January transfer window.

"It's still a while until we're there, in four weeks," said Farke. "We'll see [then] more clearly how long it will last. We spoke in the summer that we wanted to do a bit more [in attack] so if a key player is out of course it influences a bit your plan for January. We're just focused on the games ahead, we don't look too far ahead with the daily work with the team."

Leeds have welcomed James' international team-mate Karl Darlow back into training ahead of the clash with Chelsea after he missed the weekend's game through a minor adductor issue.