Sheffield Wednesday v Leeds United: Kemar Roofe 'close' to a comeback - but won't make Hillsborough clash

Roofe is poised to resume full training with Marcelo Bielsa’s squad, two weeks after a calf injury forced him onto the sidelines.

Bielsa was forced to leave his first-choice centre-forward out of Leeds’ 1-1 draw at Millwall a fortnight ago due to a problem sustained in training and Roofe has missed subsequent games against Preston North End and Birmingham City.

Bielsa described the 25-year-old as “close” to a return this week but ruled him out of this evening’s trip to Hillsborough. Roofe, however, is edging towards full fitness ahead of next week’s matches against Hull City and Brentford.

Roofe won August’s player-of-the-month award after amassing four goals and two assists last month, establishing himself ahead of £7m signing Patrick Bamford.

Bamford is out until the new year with a knee injury but midfielder Pablo Hernandez (hamstring) and defender Gaetano Berardi (knee) are likely to be available after the next international break.

Young defender Conor Shaughnessy is out with a knock sustained in an Under-23s fixture and on-loan Chelsea midfielder Izzy Brown is still regaining fitness after ACL surgery in January.

“Bamford and Brown won’t be with us for a long time,” Bielsa said. “Roofe is close to the first team; not immediately but he’s close to becoming part of the group.

“Berardi and Pablo are also close to the team but not as close as Roofe.”