Leeds United: Daniel Farke pre-Southampton press conference every word on best fans, Patrick Bamford, Mateo Joseph, Ilia Gruev and Helder Costa

For Daniel Farke’s pre-Saints presser from Thorp Arch. We will bring you all of the news here.

1.30pm start. Bamford and Firpo could be the big news here. Both were said to be close. Dallas likely to be making progress but Farke has already admitted it will be a while for him. Spence and Gnonto will still be out, Rodon is back from suspension. Fingers crossed for no new injuries.

Daniel takes his seat.

“Frst of all we know that we are in a good shape and good moments of the season because six games unbeaten, four clean sheets in a row, pretty impressive performances and obviously a really good result in the last game and many points in the last games we are happy with at the moment. But we’re also not over the moon so we know that in this league you always have to be aware that the momentum can change and switch pretty pretty quick and for that always have to be on it. So there’s no time to be overconfident and what we speak about the moment is that to play against Southampton, I couldn’t think about a worse moment to play against Southampton because they are there with four losses in a row obviously. It’s tricky at times when you have a busy schedule and you play three games in six or seven days to change things but one thing is for sure is that for such a big club with so high ambitions and also many, many quality players, if you have such a period and then you have a normal week and time on the training pitch, you will have a look under each and every stone and speak about each and every detail that has to be improved and I’m pretty aware that they would have done exactly this. And then the home game against Leeds is a big opportunity because to play against us is more or less always the game of the season for all opponents but then once we are in red hot form like this then you know with one game, you have the chance to win the momentum back and change your whole mood and we are pretty much aware that Southampton will be highly motivated to do exactly this - to use this home game against an opponent with a big reputation like we are in order to win the momentum. They had a really, really good start to the season, it’s a really good side and then it’s the Championship and sometimes you have periods when it’s tricky. But I’m 100 per cent sure that their class will shine at one moment and they will be highly motivated to find their way back in terms of results because I think performance wise they were not far away and we travel there in a pretty respectful mood. But sometimes you also can’t chose when you play your opponents and for that we also accept this challenge and we try to be ready and try to win points even there on the road.”

“Well obviously not in his perfect rhythm because he hasn’t played a game since the second last or last pre-season game so obviously not there with 100 per cent. But one week further ahead in team training I think this week also was massively beneficial for him and he’s definitely also topic for the squad on Saturday and I think it’s much improved since two weeks back in training. I think he’s definitely a topic to travel with us.”

“Yes. So there is this old rule that normally a player who is back in training needs as long on the training pitch to be ready with full confidence and full rhythm to be ready to play the same time like he was out so hopefully Patrick is an experienced player and for an offensive player sometimes it is even a bit quicker so hopefully he doesn’t need eight weeks to be back in the mix. Sometimes also an injured player is back and highly motivated to be involved on the pitch and I can see this also in training so Patrick is in a good mood and he knows that he’s really a good player on this level. The last time he played on Championship level he got this club more than 20 goals and promoted so it’s definitely good to have a player of his experience and quality and ability back into the mix.”

“Yes, it’s good and we need this competition and also like a few players got a little bit of a rest because it was the third game within six days but also the lads who came in used that chance in order to impress in competition. It’s always about obviously to use your chance and the quality of the performances. But it’s also good that you can react on different tactical necessarities because for example, all my centre backs are a bit different in a way, the same on the full back positions, the same with our offensive players. I much prefer the situation right now in comparison to what’s happened a few weeks ago and sometimes it’s not the easiest part that you have to disappoint sometimes a player but right now we’re also heading into a busy week with three games within seven days and for that we need all our players from the squad and I am happy that we have many of them available.”

“Yes, absolutely. So I was pretty impressed and pretty happy with him in pre-season. He had great games, also behind closed doors in the friendly against Barnsley he was excellent but also all the other friendlies. Sadly he had this long term injury and as a young player who is just on the way into the first team football it’s never easy if you miss such a big part and you are out for more or less two months and you then need a little bit longer to be back in shape. Obviously for him it’s also not that easy because you can’t give just game time away in order to bring him back from this confidence level and in this rhythm. But on the training pitch he looks really sharp and we are also thinking perhaps of giving him some some minutes perhaps also whenever possible in the under 21s to give him a bit of feeling for the positioning but also the feeling for a normal game but once he is capable to impress that is also a chance to be selected for the traveling squad like he was for example for the last game and we obviously we also had a few injury concerns in the last game with Willy Gnonto and also Patrick was not one hundred per cent available. For that, we are happy that Mateo was available and I’m quite sure that in the mid and long term future of this club he will play a pretty pretty important role amd I’m pleased with him.”

“No, everything is okay so far. Obviously we spoke about that Willy would be out until the next international break. Also, with Junior Firpo, he is also not back in team training so that will mean also after the international break. Willy Gnonto had surgery and quite successfuly so he is already on his way to do a lot of rehab work and that’s more or less that. There is Djed Spence as well and he also won’t be involved before the international break and that’s more or less it. No new injuries which is definitely good news.”

“First of all, we are not just here to help Patrick it’s more like the other way round, Patrick is here to help us and we are all unbelievably happy that he is back because he’s a quality player. He’s an experienced player and it is always a good feeling as a player when you are in the dressing room and you head into games and you look to the left and then you see Patrick Bamford next to you - a big name in English football. He didn’t win the cap for England in the lottery anyhow so he’s a quality player and he has proved this for the club, with more than 20 goals he got this club promoted and then sadly he had a difficult spell due to injuries. Especially for an offensive player it’s never easy when you are playing at times but without being in the rythm because you need confidence. I was perry impressed with him in pre-season, he was excellent in pre-season, he scored goals, and he was sharp in his movement. Obviously then sadly the injury happened but we are right now all happy that he is back and back in team training. He will need obviously a while until he is back at his best but to have him back as an option for us, with his quality to score, quality of linking the play, with his experience and also as a top class teammate, it’s definitely good to have him back and I think he will be absolutely beneficial for us as a group and also will play a quite important part. Patrick is confident and also experienced enoigh that he doesn’t need our help, his proven goals go on this level especially and for that I am happy to have him back.”