Leeds United injury news and boost for Farke as duo pass fit for Swansea City clash at Elland Road

Both Georginio Rutter and Liam Cooper came off prematurely in the game against Rotherham United, the former having just returned from an injury and the latter appearing to pick up a fresh niggle. Cooper went off during the 1-1 draw holding the back of his leg and Farke revealed in his post-match press conference that the club captain had felt something in his hamstring. Rutter also failed to last the 90 minutes as he made a quicker-than-expected return from an abdominal injury. Cooper was replaced by Pascal Struijk, himself making a first appearance since a hernia operation, while Patrick Bamford took Rutter’s place up front.

Both men are available again to face Swansea however, according to Farke, who has a wealth of options to choose from thanks to the days that have passed between Friday night’s encounter and the midweek meeting at Elland Road. Djed Spence, missed out again at New York Stadium and is yet to make his comeback from a knee ligament problem he picked up in training in mid-September The Spurs loanee remained at Thorp Arch for his rehabilitation, which was complicated slightly by a bout of tonsillitis. Farke said on Friday that the right-back needed more training due to the length of time he had been out of action with the injury but he is available again. Joe Gelhardt and Jamie Shackleton are also ready if Farke decides to call upon them and Sam Byram, who suffered a minor hamstring problem before the international break, has recovered.

“It was enough time to recover for all my players,”said Farke on Tuesday. “Georgi Rutter is over his injury and back to 100 per cent. The same with Liam Cooper, he limped off with a slight problem with his glute, but enough time for him to recover.

For Pascal Struijk, Djed Spence, Joe Gelhardt, Jamie Shackleton – it has been beneficial to have four or five more days on the training pitch,. No question marks, everyone is available at the moment. We had a session earlier today, we have one more final session tomorrow morning. Everyone apart from our long-term injury Stuart Dallas is available.”

Dallas has not yet made his return to competitive football since fracturing his femur in a collision with Jack Grealish back in April 2022. The Northern Ireland international required a number of surgeries and had rejoined his team-mates in training earlier this season but Farke’s latest update prior to the international break was that Dallas was back in individual training.

Farke will be faced with a selection dilemma once again on the left side of his central defence now that Struijk and Cooper are fit enough to vie for that spot and the manager is delighted. He said: “I'm always happy to have Liam available, he had good performances in the last games. I'm just happy Pascal is back. I was not too concerned about this turnaround, but the other turnaround from Wednesday night to Saturday will be quite quick so it's always good to have options back. Liam came back from a long-term injury, the same with Sam Byram, it's difficult to play three in eight games so I was happy to have Junior Firpo available [as well] for the last game.”