Trio sidelined for Leeds United's next opponents Nottingham Forest including international ace

Moussa Niakhate, Orel Mangala and Omar Richards have all recently been sidelined and 26-year-old French centre-back Niakhate has already been ruled out for a couple of months.

The summer signing from Mainz 05 was forced off in the latter stages of last month's 1-0 win at home to West Ham United and boss Steve Cooper has since revealed that the centre-back would be looking at around two months out with a hamstring injury.

Former England under-21s international left back Richards joined the club in July from Bayern Munich but the summer recruit has yet to feature for Forest due to a leg injury.

Cooper said before August's Carabao Cup clash against Grimsby Town that the 24-year-old was still around one month away from returning.

Belgium international midfielder Managla, meanwhile, suffered a hamstring injury in the 1-1 draw at Everton towards the end of last month during which he was taken off ten minutes into the second half.

Mangala, who joined from VfB Stuttgart in the summer, has not featured since although Cooper insisted it would be "more days and weeks, rather than any longer."