Daniel Farke will be worried about the number of injuries currently popping up in his Leeds United squad, as the Whites camp continues to look more and more threadbare with every passing day.
Ilia Gruev looks to be another worrying casualty that the Championship promotion chasers will have to cope with moving forward, with the Bulgarian midfielder substituted off early into the first 45 minutes away at Norwich City last time out owing to a concern.
He could reportedly be out for Leeds’ Friday night clash against Sunderland now, alongside another holding midfielder in the form of Ethan Ampadu, who will be sidelined for some time.
The latest on Ethan Ampadu’s injury
It has been recently confirmed that Leeds’ star Welshman will be out of action for the West Yorkshire titans until early next year, after picking up an unlucky lateral knee injury during their convincing 3-0 win over Coventry City in late September.
Farke rejigged his set-up against the Canaries and gifted new summer recruit Ao Tanaka a start at Carrow Road in the former Chelsea man’s place, who is one figure who could benefit from Ampadu’s absence, with the Japanese gem then able to impose himself more onto the midfield positions.
Tanaka filled in well, with 81 touches of the ball registered and five ground duels won, but the former Fortuna Dusseldorf man was unable to push Leeds onto a win during the 1-1 draw in Norfolk.
That’s where another midfielder could come in and save the day, after Leeds settled for a share of the points against the Canaries, to further make up for Ampadu’s “monumental” injury blow, as it has been described by journalist James Marshment.
The best replacement for Ampadu and Gruev
Joe Rothwell was trusted to come on in Gruev’s place early on against Norwich, and looked more of a threat advancing forward than Tanaka in the middle of the park, with the Japan international more content at sitting back.
In total, the AFC Bournemouth loanee managed to amass 67 touches, 47 accurate passes and even register a key pass in the game, to try and spur his away side on to take the lead away from Largie Ramazani’s equaliser.
Looking at his career numbers in the Championship, it’s also very obvious that Rothwell is a versatile presence who is happy to slot into the side wherever needed, with an impressive two goals and five assists coming from 13 games in the holding midfield positions to date.
That’s where he will likely be selected by Farke tonight, with the Cherries loanee wanting to impress wherever he is placed into the German’s XI, to try and continue living up to his “amazing” tag he was once handed to by one of his former managers in Russell Martin.
Southampton supporters will fondly remember Rothwell when he made the short commute across the South Coast to play for the Saints last season in another second-tier loan stint, helping himself to four goals and one assist from 20 games, as Martin’s men ultimately promotion at the expense of the Whites.
Farke will hope Rothwell can add another promotion to his CV with his new loan employers and will pray that the 29-year-old can perform against the Black Cats this evening in what could look like a heavily patched-up starting lineup.