Leeds United caution urged over summer signing with improved gametime possibility looming

Speaking ahead of Saturday's trip to Craven Cottage to face Fulham, Farke admitted there were question marks over two of his three senior strikers. Lukas Nmecha and Joel Piroe both took knocks in training this week, the former to his foot and the latter to his calf, and Farke and his medical team are due to make late decisions on the pair depending on how their bodies react. The German is known to prefer a player to be able to take part in the final training session ahead of a game before he will happily put them in the starting line-up. And the doubt over Nmecha and Piroe make it a possibility at least that Calvert-Lewin could get his first start of the season.

The former Everton frontman was a relatively late addition to Farke's squad, arriving long after the training camp in Germany and just days before the start of the campaign. As a result of his late arrival and a lack of full pre-season, Leeds have been determined to carefully manage Calvert-Lewin's fitness. He played a little over half an hour against Sheffield Wednesday in the Carabao Cup and got 20 minutes against Newcastle United, when he had a late chance to become an instant hero.

Leeds identified Calvert-Lewin as a starting number 9, believing they could keep him fit. Physical preparedness appears to be the only thing keeping him from that status currently because Farke insists there is no question mark over his pedigree.

"We don't have to speak about his quality, he has proven [it] more than enough with more than 250 games on Premier League level, with so many goals, I think 60 goals, several England caps, also goals for England, what he's capable to do once he's fit,” said the German.

In order to get fully up to speed and prove Leeds' summer transfer decision was a good one, Calvert-Lewin will be relying on Farke putting him in match scenarios. It's a little bit of a chicken and egg situation but Farke acknowledges that time on the pitch will help the number 9 blossom again. So there's a good chance he sees action at Craven Cottage. But he cannot yet be expected to produce his best.

"He's been four weeks in team training," said Farke "Of course, he can't be there with 100 per cent for that. He needs game time and rhythm. But each and every day is beneficial. And the longer he stays fit, and the longer he is with us in team training - he also really looked sharp in the last game - the more likely it is that he gets more and more minutes. And of course, he's also in contention for the game on the weekend."