'No uncertainty' - Daniel Farke confirms key Leeds United star is not Premier League bound in January

Leeds United will put the together their final preparations on Friday as they get set to host Plymouth Argyle at Elland Road in their latest Championship outing on Saturday afternoon.

The Whites recorded an impressive win over league leaders Leicester City last time out and will seek to keep the pressure on the Foxes and second-placed Ipswich Town with all three points against last season's League One champions.

It will be the club's final outing before the November international break, with a number of Whites stars set to join up with their countries over the next couple of weeks. And without further ado, here's your Thursday evening Leeds United headlines.

Rodon 'will stay' at Leeds in January

Leeds boss Daniel Farke has confirmed he plans to keep Joe Rodon at Elland Road until the end of the season, despite some selection concerns at parent club Tottenham Hotspur. Spurs' lack of cover in central defence was exposed on Monday night after Cristian Romero was shown a straight red card in a 4-1 loss to Chelsea while Micky van de Ven was forced off through injury.

However, Farke has shut down any suggestions Rodon will end his season-long loan at Leeds early once the January window opens. He said on Thursday: “Joe will stay. He is an important player for my plans. It is important we have stability and no uncertainty, so he will stay with us. I am pleased with his development but he has to keep going. Brilliant so far.”

Fresh injury blow for Whites

Daniel Farke has lost Pascal Struijk for the Elland Road meeting with Plymouth Argyle after the defender had a hernia operation. Struijk has been playing through the pain barrier since the summer according to Farke and despite the issue has cemented a place on the left side of the Whites’ central defensive partnership. Farke has also made Struijk captain in games when both Liam Cooper and Luke Ayling have not been involved from the start, but the victory over Leicester City was the last straw when it came to the injury the Dutchman was carrying.

"Some bad news, Pascal Struijk will miss out the game on Saturday,” said Farke. “In recent weeks and months he had growing problems with his hernia, especially after the last game. We decided to send him to London for assessment, treatment and a little surgery. Not too bad. We hope to have him back pretty soon, it's too early too judge. We can just speak about the timeframe at some point next week. He'll definitely miss this game."

Festive TV schedule changes

Leeds have had three festive fixtures picked up for television coverage by Sky Sports, leading to time alterations. The festive fixtures are just around the corner, and Leeds will play three games in the space of six days from December 23. It has now been confirmed that all three of those games will be shown live on television. The Whites begin that festive stretch against second place Ipswich Town at Elland Road - a huge clash in the promotion battle - and that game will be shown on Sky Sports, kicking off at 12.30pm on Saturday, December 23.

Three days later, on Boxing Day, Leeds face Preston North End at Deepdale, again on Sky Sports, and that fixture will kick off at the same time, at 12.30pm. Fortunately, that will be a short trip for travelling supporters. On Friday December 29, the Whites will take on West Brom at The Hawthorns, and fans will have more time to make that two-hour or so trip, albeit on a work day. That fixture will kick off at 8.15pm.