Leeds United man bounces back into training armed with pre-Aston Villa argument

Prior to the break in the Premier League fixture list, Daniel Farke reacted a little spikily to questioning around his selection decisions for the Nottingham Forest defeats. The German was asked by BBC Leeds if Daniel James was fit enough to start and responded: "Of course he could have started, yes." When asked if it was therefore simply a tactical decision to leave him on the bench, Farke went on to say it was 'performance' related, insisting that being match fit alone is not sufficient for James to walk back into the starting XI ahead of Noah Okafor or Brenden Aaronson. It's important to note that there has been no implication from the media, Farke's critics or the wider fanbase that James should come into the team again to play as a left winger at the expense of Okafor. The argument put forward by many is that he should be playing wide right, instead of Aaronson - described by Farke in that interview as a 'workhorse.'

The challenge for James is to provide his manager with evidence that he is not only fit but firing in such a way that Aaronson's workrate is not the dominant factor in the selection process. And this international break presented an opportunity to build an argument in a way he has failed to do so with his chances so far in what has admittedly been an injury-disrupted season.

It's fair to say that James has struggled to return to the form that made him such a vital cog in Farke's Championship-winning machine, with those 12 goals and nine assists. It's also fair to say he hasn't exactly played a huge amount of football for Farke since his last club goal on April 8. Injury ended his season three games early and he looked rusty in pre-season before starting the Premier League campaign in the starting XI. Four games in he picked up a core muscle issue and followed it up by spraining his ankle, meaning that by mid-November he could boast just three starts and five substitute appearances in the league, totalling 288 minutes of action.

But for Wales there seemed little chance that he would not start in their November World Cup Qualifying games against Liechtenstein and North Macedonia. The first of those games saw him pick up an assist and it was very nearly two. He jumped alongside Leeds team-mate Joe Rodon to contest an aerial ball in the box that dropped for Nathan Broadhead, whose strike hit the net but was ruled out. Frustration was compounded when the winger struck the post from a few yards out. But a dart into space in the area and a slide rule pass through the Liechtenstein box put the winner on a plate for Jordan James and gave Wales their expected three-point haul.

And on Tuesday, Leeds' James applied the exclamation mark to his message for his club boss as Wales secured home advantage for their play-off semi-final.

It was James' incisive pass put David Brooks in the area where he was fouled early on, before Harry Wilson netted the first of the night from the spot. James then made a smart run to the near post ahead of the second, scored by Brooks who enjoyed a little more room thanks to the Leeds man taking the attention of defenders. James scored the fourth himself, bursting through the middle and then holding his run until Wilson flicked the ball into his path before burying the shot inside the far post. With 64 minutes played James went off but at 4-1 the game was won and the damage done.

End product and composure have often been the only question marks over a player whose pace and willingness to work are unquestionable, and even if the quality of the opposition was at a certain level this past week James did deliver when it counted. Fit? Yes. Firing? Yes. Fresh? He played a little over an hour in both games for Wales and with the Villa game taking place on Sunday has plenty of time to recover. Only Farke can say that what he sees from James in training prior to the game is good enough for the Welsh international to supplant Aaronson on the right. But for a team playing at home after a pair of bruising defeats, one that struggled to look even close to dangerous at times in either game, there's already an argument building.