Leeds United now have Christmas week off ahead of a Sunday return to Premier League action at Sunderland - for which blows have left nine players out and three more as doubts.
Leeds and Sunderland both played their final games before Christmas on Saturday, the Black Cats taking in the long trip to Brighton and leaving with a point after a goalless draw.
With the Africa Cup of Nations getting underway, the point was all the more commendable given a raft of absentees which will also be the case for Sunday afternoon’s visit of Leeds to the Stadium of Light.
Leeds themselves though, fresh from Saturday’s brilliant 4-1 win at home to Crystal Palace, also have key men missing, all leading to a combined total of nine players being out and three more doubtful for Sunday’s 2pm kick-off between the Black Cats and Whites.
Here, we run through the early injury and team news from both camps which includes another player now being back.
1. DOUBT: Lukas Nmecha
Whites striker Nmecha has now missed his side's last three games with a hamstring injury, boss Daniel Farke reporting at Thursday's pre-Palace press conference that the forward was "still a bit symptomatic" and still out. Speaking at Tuesday's pre-match press conference, Farke said there was a small chance that Nmecha could be involved on Sunday if he came through training okay on his expected return later in the week. | AFP via Getty Images
2. DOUBT: Ahmed Abdullahi
Nigerian youth international forward Abdullahi joined Sunderland in the summer from Gent but the 21-year-old has yet to feature for the Black Cats and boss Regis Le Bris confirmed last month that Abdullahi and also Aji Alese were recovering from different new injuries. Hard to be clear where Abdullahi is at then and clearly a huge doubt. | Getty Images
3. OUT: Aji Alese
Black Cats defender Alese has not featured for Sunderland since breaking his leg in January's FA Cup clash against Stoke City. The centre-back then underwent shoulder surgery in the summer and has been working his way back since. Still out. | Getty Images
4. OUT: Luke O'Nien
Sunderland midfielder O'Nien will miss Sunday's visit of Leeds as he serves the final game of a three-match ban for his straight red card in the 3-0 defeat at Manchester City at the start of the month, above. | Getty Images
5. OUT: Habib Diarra
Diarra was a player that Leeds themselves wanted to sign in the summer but not at the Sunderland club-record £30m fee needed to get him from Strasbourg. The 21-year-old has been out since September after suffering a groin injury in training but Diarra was still named in Senegal’s squad for the Africa Cup of Nations and came off the Sunderland bench to bag 26 minutes in the weekend's goalless draw at Brighton. He is now set to link up with his national team for the tournament in Morocco. | Getty Images
6. OUT: Chemsdine Talbi
Diarra included, Sunderland have six players representing their countries at the Africa Cup of Nations and winger Talbi was an unused substitute for host nation Morocco in Sunday's tournament opener against Comoros in which his side recorded a 2-0 victory. | Getty Images