Leeds United vs Stoke City: Daniel Farke issues fresh update on injured men and midweek team news plan

No guarantee we'll be there with the perfect outcome, but experience helps. For Kieran [McKenna] it helps he was in a promotion battle. In Championship level it's a bit different but every moment of experience helps how to judge every situation, how to calm your emotions, experience is something you don't want to miss heading into such a period.

It's a difficult question, I'm not sure if I really enjoy it. It's exhausting, tiring, difficult and demanding when you're heading slowly into crunch time period, every decision is a bit more important because there are less games to repair a failure. It's a demanding period, there is not much time for many other things in life than to think about football. I ask myself the question several times, because it means lots of work. The pressure, the demands that you always have to lead the group and in their emotions, you have to be spot on in messaging. You have to lead a pretty mixed group, between age 17-34 and you have to be spot on, each player analyses what you say and how you behave. But I am a competitor in all areas, I quite like when the going gets tough, when it's spicy atmosphere, it's good fun to be hopefully successful. When you are, it's the best feeling you can have. I'm respectful heading into such a period but in a way quite enjoy it because the best comes out of me when the going gets tough.

Don't read into it too much. When I prepare for the next opponent I hear the press conference to get a feeling how he judges his team or what he says between the lines to predict the starting line-up but I'm not too tempted to listen to managers who are not involved in our next game. I don't pay too much attention to it.

I wouldn't say it's a blip if I'm honest. Under such circumstances to get a point on the road, but overall it's important to have an atmosphere where it's competitive and you have to deliver if you want to keep your spot. You need a good balance, if you don't deliver in training and games you can't take for granted they'll always be in the line-up. It's always fine margins. You need to feel the backing this is quite important. We try to find the right mix.

I don't like vanity in the dressing room and from my experience that's what players want. They don't want it sugar-coated. There are always a mix of reasons why you're not there with your best performance. It's also important to point them out, what we can't influence is a quick turnaround. Schedule didn't help, pitch didn't help, way the opponent plays didn't help, but we spoke self-critically about what we could do better quite honest. They want the manager to be brutally honest and this is the best way to judge a game.

I have no solution if I'm honest. The referees all over the world add it on after 45 minutes. First half we played 54 minutes but it doesn't take away it always breaks your rhythm. When your opponent lays down and gets treatment for three minutes, he's one yard from the sideline, get him over. When the goalkeeper always takes two minutes with the goal kick, sometimes you have the feeling they're nominated for the next Oscar - they pretend they cannot find the ball. Waste some time, calm the opponent. You would wish referees are smarter in their decisions. You could call it smart but not in the sense of the game. When we go in the lead the time-wasting stops but I don't want to feel too sorry for ourselves.

I think you can see his ideas and handwriting. This is what I like a lot about coaches. We also have the pressure to deliver every three days to win the points and perhaps have to adapt to the situation as well, when you're not in the best position in the table, you have to be pragmatic and grind out results. I expect not to see 100 per cent Schumacher's ideas on the pitch but bits and pieces. Stoke is traditionally pretty strong and aggressive side, a good blend normally, hopefully not tomorrow.

The style of the teams are slightly different, I rate Schumacher's sides, pretty possession-based, good with the ball. I don't expect us to dominate possession like we did at Huddersfield. Stoke will have their spells, so perhaps we have to be a bit more switched on but nevertheless it will be physical because it's a side fighting against relegation. It's each game pretty physical and you always have to be ready for it.

Overall he is back in team training ten days. Each day helps him [Byram]. He knows his body well, like always when we have a quick turnaround we make late decisions in the starting line-up. He's in a shape to have more minutes. Many bruises and many knocks and dead legs but it's normal, we have to adapt to this, this is normal life at this stage in the Ch'ship. It's important we're not too soft at this moment. We'll be without Jaidon Anthony due to private reasons. Overall all the other players should be available except Jamie Shackleton, his symptoms were like a concussion. He'll miss [Stoke] and at the weekend at Sheffield [Wednesday]. Can't train under concussion protocols. A little question mark behind Junior Firpo, he had calf problems after the last game. A late call with him. Apart from this, all others should be available.

I wouldn't say it's easier at this point to play against a side 21st or 22nd or a team more or less comfortably in 12th. It's always difficult against a team who fights with knife between the teeth. I expect a challenge each game. I think the setup is a bit different because the coaches have different style of approach. Steven has shown what he wants to have on the pitch, at Plymouth a football-orientated side, good processes. It's also a different side with different players, individual qualities to Huddersfield so we have to prepare in details for a different challenge.