Leeds United suffer early injury blow vs Birmingham City as 'outstanding' defender limps off

The 30-year-old has only recently returned from a hamstring issue which saw him miss four games during December, and could play no further part on Monday afternoon having gone to ground after a quarter of an hour.

Byram has been dogged by injuries throughout his career but this season established himself as Leeds' first-choice left-back, particularly during the early part of the campaign. Prior to his return to the matchday squad last month, manager Daniel Farke described the versatile full-back as 'outstanding' during 2023/24 and was pleased to have him back available once again.

The ex-Norwich City man returned from the start against West Bromwich Albion in Leeds' final game of 2023 and was selected in Farke's XI once more for the visit of Wayne Rooney's Birmingham.

It is unclear what the defender was forced off with during the first half, however teammate Joe Rodon swiftly signalled to the bench that a substitution would be required for Byram as soon as the defender went to ground, suggesting it was a known issue.

Leeds were also forced to start third choice goalkeeper Kristoffer Klaesson against the Blues after back-up stopper Karl Darlow sustained a dislocated thumb. Illan Meslier, meanwhile, has one match remaining to serve of a three-game suspension for a red card picked up in the Boxing Day defeat to Preston North End.