Leeds United's loanee RB Leipzig striker Jean-Kevin Augustin fit for full training when Marcelo Bielsa's men return

It feels so long since football was played that even the prospect of a tired, nay exhausted debate over whether or not Leeds United head coach Marcelo Bielsa should play two up front, is almost appealing.

But what should genuinely excite Leeds fans is the prospect of a fitter, leaner Augustin taking his place among Bielsa’s attacking options when football is given permission to resume.

If the green light was to flicker to life today, Augustin would be fit for full training with his colleagues and, given that their last match was March 7, his lack of match sharpness would not be a problem for him alone to overcome.

Hamstring healed, or as healed as it needs to be in order to play football again, Augustin would once more be back in the same boat as Patrick Bamford and Tyler Roberts, albeit with less experience of Bielsa-ball and still, presumably, a little more adaptation time to put in.

If, as seems likely and necessary, clubs will be given a mini pre-season to prepare for a resumption of battle, Augustin would have a fighting chance of seeing match minutes.

The coronavirus lockdown robbed him of a chance to return to action on March 21 against Luton Town, for a fixture Leeds had pencilled in as a potential comeback for their French striker, on loan from RB Leipzig.

But what the period of time we have had to endure with no sport has given the 22-year-old, is a chance to get healthy without the risk of a reoccurence in a game, when adrenaline might urge him to push the natural boundaries.

It was Monday, February 24, four weeks to the day that he was whisked to Elland Road under a veil of secrecy to sign for the Whites, that he felt pain in left hamstring when attempting a sprint during a training session.

That kind of injury, as almost anyone who follows the sport will know, will keep you out of action for around four weeks, which would have taken Augustin into the international break.

Luton’s visit to Elland Road, a game Leeds felt he might have a chance of playing in, was to be the final outing before the fortnight absence of domestic football but, by the time March 21 came around, an absence of a much more sinister and indefinite kind had been foisted upon the beautiful game.

So Augustin continued his rehabilitation work at Thorp Arch, until the facility was almost completely shut down by Leeds United in an attempt to protect the squad and the wider community from COVID-19 infection.

They could, and can, still treat players for injuries, if the treatment is of a justifiable nature, as per English Football League guidelines, so Augustin has occasionally been able to drive himself to Thorp Arch and work, on a one-to-one basis, with medical staff while still observing social distancing rules.

Last week, The YEP understands, he was at Thorp Arch to work on his running mechanics, but he is expected to stay at home this week.

And he is now working from the same fitness programme handed out on a daily basis to the rest of the squad via WhatsApp.

He is at his target weight and has said he feels better now than when he arrived in England in January, which indicates that the camera was not lying when his Instagram video suggested he was cutting a leaner profile.

He has indeed worked hard and stuck to his diet.

A hamstring can take three months to fully heal, so Augustin will still need to do the kind of supplementary exercises that clubs put players through alongside the regular training sessions to repair muscles completely and prevent another injury.

Even when they are back playing, the extras continue.

Balance work, getting the rest of his body to work correctly and share some of the strain that his hamstring might have felt, will still be crucial.

But, if the government gave the nod, the EFL gave the thumbs up, Thorp Arch reopened its pitches and Bielsa welcomed his troops back out to play football, Augustin could join in.

A long eight weeks have passed since he pulled up in training. He could probably murder a session of murderball right now.