Sunderland v Leeds United: Daniel Farke press conference every word on January need, injuries, top two and Mateo Joseph praise

For Daniel Farke's pre-Sunderland presser from Thorp Arch. All the news to follow here.

For Whites boss Daniel Farke. Updates here from 2pm. Feels like Sam Byram is the big one on the injuries front, especially with Junior Firpo out. Djed Spence is clearly an option in the position but he is naturally a right back.

Daniel Farke takes his seat.

“Like always when it is such a quick turnaround, we will make some late decisions because in each and every game there are some knocks and you also have to wait for how players recover after an intensive game and also for the last weekend. For that I can't speak too much about our starting XI tomorrow but what I can confirm is that Sam Byram is definitely out for this game with a hamstring strain. The first diagnosis is that he will be out for about three weeks so realistically we expect him to be available for the league just in the new year. Also bad news with Jamie Shackleton, sadly has got a glute injury and he is sadly not available for tomorrow so he will assess him. It's a bit surprising because he trained yesterday normally and then after training in the afternoon he felt a bit in his glute. We've assessed him today and scanned him and sadly he's definitely out for this game so not available. A few players are struggling at the moment with illness and cold and flu. It's this time of year, it's always quite unpredictable because you never know. Each and every morning a different player can wake up and moan about some symptoms but it's difficult to say right now who is really available. One of these players for example is Patrick Bamford who was definitely not available in the last game. He feels, meanwhile, a bit better but has not trained with us so far. We'll have a session this afternoon and we'll test him and assess him and hopefully he can come through the session. I would like to have him available at least. But there are a few other players and for that we'll have to wait. It's that time of the year when you have to show some steel against the odds and also work in these circumstances and for that we have got a big group and I trust all my players and we'll see who is really available.”

"So for me, the Premier League is the best league in the world, the Championship is the toughest and there is no doubt about this when you have this quick turnaround and also for us it is a bit special this week with two difficult away games and we have to travel. There is not much time on the training pitch to prepare the players for a different opponent in comparison to the last game. We have to work a lot more like in a theoretical way with videos but also to make sure that we don't overload the players too much because they have to be fresh also mentally fresh for the game. So it's always finding about finding the right right balance also in terms of load. So during this month, we hardly have a training session altogether. You always separate the groups in recovery. For example yesterday for the players who played many minutes on Saturday and a bit more load for some players - a relatively small group who was not involved. It's always about finding the right balance and you can just make some late decisions and also not train perhaps specifically with your starting lineup. It's always a bit difficult but we don't moan about this. This is just the league and it's for each and every manager and every manager the same and if in the sense of fair play each and everything is correct for each team and club then we don't moan about this. It's more the other way round. I get the feeling for us that the more difficult and the tougher the going gets the better for us because our fitness level is good and also the spirit is high which also helps during this period. If I'm honest, I like it when it's when it's tough and you have to show some steel so for that I don't moan too much about the situation. Just hard work, but I like it."

"Well, we know that we are on a good run and we don't want to hide behind this fact and we are fully aware. But we also know and are also experienced enough and also we as a coaching staff make it clear that you can't allow yourself to enjoy yourself too much and be too proud of yourself. This league is relentless and if you want to be successful in this league then you have to become relentless yourself. And this is what we what we're doing so it's always about smart decisions and also to try to be a role model in terms of being professional and also the soft skills are even more important during this time. So it is important that although everyone would like to enjoy also the time around Christmas with the family, to be even more concentrated on good habits and good nutrition and good sleep and also like to prepare yourself mentally, good recovery. So there's not much Christmas shopping for my lads so they have to give it over to their families. It helps as well sometimes at least. It is a busy period anyhow and you have to keep going and this is what you have to do if you want to be successful in this league and, for that, no complaining about this. It's just part of the job at the moment. And for that there is not much time to think about anything else than just football at the moment and this is what we do."

"No, really, it's not a phrase. It's really like for us it is not important what the others are doing so it's not like we celebrate when the teams around you drop some points or you win some points compared to some competitors or it stays the same or if there is a setback and the gap gets bigger or whatever. It's just about yourselves. You are just allowed to have look at the table from game day 40 because then if you are there with a mistake then you can't repair that well. But during this period it is just important what you're doing and if you are there with a points average that we have at the moment, a point average of two a game, if you can keep this to the 46 games then you know what this means. For that, it's not important during this period. During the second part of the season, when the going gets tough, all the teams will drop points. So for us at the moment it's not important. We want to just make sure that we have a special amount of wins in the end of the season that we have a special points average by the end of the of the season. We are not not addicted to be in the top position after 20-25-30 games. The only thing that matters is where you are after 46 games and for that each and every game is important and each and every game day has the same value so for that we prepare for each and every game like it's it's a cup final, like it's the game of the year and if you do this 46 times and try to win each and every game and if there is a day when you can't win a game then make sure that you don't lose it - this our attitude then you will have a chance to collect many points and let the table take care of itself. So at the moment we are not addicted to have a look on the table, we are addicted to have a look at our performances and to be there with the best possible performances and for at the moment this is the only thing that matters."

"It tells you a lot about this club. They are sitting in the top six and although they weren't in the top six just one week ago they parted ways with a pretty experienced manager on this level in Tony Mowbray. It tells you a lot of the expectations of this club and where they want to finish and if you have an away game against an opponent who is sitting in the top six and who is still not happy with their position then it is definitely one of the most difficult tasks in the season. We are fully aware but we have shown also that we can be there in away games with top performances and top results against the best opponents in this league and for that we travel, like always, with respect but also fully convinced of our strength and we expect the tight game and competitive game again - a but similar for example, like I expected also the last away game at Blackburn. Sunderland is definitely a young, very energetic, exciting site with lots of talent, a club with big expectations and for that, again, we have to be ready and prepared in order to give ourselves a chance to win the match."