Leeds United receive double injury boost for Norwich City clash and duo are now 'part-integrated'

Boss Daniel Farke has welcomed back Willy Gnonto and Jamie Shackleton to team training over the international break and could count upon either as he puts together a squad to face his former club.

Gnonto limped out of the September 20 goalless draw at Hull City and subsequently required surgery on his ankle. The Italian international’s injury-enforced absence comes after a 55-game 2022/23 season that began in June 2022 with Nations League action and ended in June 2023 with Under 21 European Championships involvement. Gnonto’s time at Leeds has been eventful since he broke into the first team under Jesse Marsch last season and had it not been for the club’s resolve to keep him then he would likely have departed this summer. Amid transfer window interest from Everton the teen informed Farke that he did not feel able to travel to Birmingham for a Championship game and was promptly removed from the dressing room and first team set-up. A written transfer request made no difference to the situation with 49ers Enterprises and Farke determined not to sell the winger and his eventual apology to the manager brought a resolution and a return to the senior side.

Four consecutive starts followed in the league before the injury at the MKM Stadium and Gnonto was expected to be able to commence his comeback once the October international break was out of the way.

Shackleton, meanwhile, sat out the last two games before the international break with a shoulder problem that was causing him enough pain to keep him out of Farke’s plans. The academy product has been a useful addition to the German’s squad since returning from a season on loan at Millwall, featuring in no fewer than four positions in the Championship so far this season.

"So far so good I would say,” said Farke, addressing how the health of his squad as they returned from international action or a break from games.

"Lots of load for many of them. For some it was definitely beneficial, like Ilia Gruev and for Charlie Cresswell, I was quite pleased he played so many minutes. They came back at least without injuries. Leo Hjelde has some problems with his Achilles but that's the only question mark. We had the guys fully back today but some of them we couldn't involve them because they need a time of recovery. The only session before Norwich all together will be tomorrow.

“Willy is back in team training since last Sunday so no problems so far. He hasn't played for a while but he looked sharp in training and is a topic for the squad to travel with us and available for the game. Jamie Shackleton is back in team training since the beginning of the week, and also a topic for the squad.”

Junior Firpo and Stuart Dallas have also reappeared on the training pitch with their team-mates but neither man can be considered available just yet. Firpo is yet to feature at all under Farke thanks to a knee ligament problem picked up in pre-season training and hip discomfort that arose upon his return to team training earlier this season. The ex-Barcelona left-back has endured an injury-ravaged spell at Leeds since his move from Camp Nou, starting just 33 Premier League games before the club’s relegation to the second tier.

Dallas suffered a slight set-back in team training before the international break as he began closing in on a potential competitive comeback. Farke has always urged caution and patience over the Northern Ireland international’s possible involvement given the length of time he has been on the sidelines. The initial injury, a fracture of his femur, occured in a collision with Manchester City’s Jack Grealish in April 2022. Dallas missed the entire 2022/23 season, despite Marsch’s hope that he could get the versatile international back in training by Christmas.

Farke said: “Junior Firpo is back in team training since Tuesday. He had a full session yesterday, today he trained individually because he was out for four or five months. He's part in integrated. The next step will be that he can join us for a full training week and will then need a few weeks to be ready to be available. He's definitely not a topic for Norwich. With Stuart Dallas he was out for such a long time, he's also part integrated. He's joined us in several parts of team training and has to train individually or recover as well. We want to have him back in full team training and then he needs three or four weeks to be really back, it will last a while.”

Tottenham Hotspur loanee Djed Spence continues to rehab from a knee ligament problem at Thorp Arch but he has returned to the grass and could rejoin Farke’s training sessions in the next few weeks.

Farke added: “Djed is doing his rehab here, also normal progress but it will be a couple of weeks before he's back in team training. He's already on the pitch but not with the team.”