Leeds United man reveals 'individual' training plan during break as Georginio Rutter absence possible

The group will be missing 11 first-teamers over the next ten days, leaving Farke with 'seven-or-eight' players to work with at Thorp Arch. In addition, Georginio Rutter is likely to be unavailable to Farke after undergoing minor surgery on a hernia issue. The 21-year-old has withdrawn from Thierry Henry's France Under-21 squad this month in order to minimise the time he will be absent for Leeds, but could be a doubt for Good Friday's Championship fixture at Watford.

Fortunately for Farke, the player likely to step in if Georginio is deemed unable to play a part at Vicarage Road, Joel Piroe, has not been selected by his country and will remain at Thorp Arch where he will benefit from specialised coaching. Piroe is uncapped for the Netherlands and is not understood to be carrying an injury either, therefore Farke is likely to dedicate a portion of time over the coming days to the Dutch forward, preparing him for the possibility of replacing Rutter in the starting XI.

In addition, Patrick Bamford will remain at the club's training ground during this month's international window - the player alongside whom Piroe will likely start if Georginio is unable to recover in time for Leeds' fixtures over the Easter weekend.

Speaking after United's 12th league win in 13 matches, Leeds' final match before the international hiatus, Farke said: "Yes, not many [players left]. Perhaps I have to have a look if I have my boots still there in the boot room in order to work a bit on my shape. So we'll be perhaps a group of seven or eight.

"It's always tricky to work on team behaviour skills [during the international break]," Farke added. "It's more like you work during this period on individual skills and a bit more detailed with individual players - it's sometimes also beneficial.

"But it's always tricky because you have more or less not one session as a whole group. Sometimes you have one or perhaps two sessions [towards] the end of the international break. But this time I guess we will have not one session together with the whole group."

Leeds' team shape is an area which, to the casual observer, does not require an awful lot of work considering the Whites have conceded just three Championship goals in 2024. Nevertheless, Joe Rodon, Charlie Cresswell, Junior Firpo, Connor Roberts, Ethan Ampadu, Ilia Gruev, Archie Gray, Glen Kamara, Willy Gnonto, Dan James and Mateo Joseph's absence does limit the coaching staff's ability to work on specific collective practices before the visit to Watford.

"It will be tricky but it's the schedule, I don't complain. It's better this way, than if none of my players [were] called up for international duty because it would mean we have no quality players, so I'd rather have this situation and no complaints about it," Farke said.