Jesse Marsch has spoken to the press on Wednesday ahead of his first home game as head coach of Leeds United.
The American saw his side perform well in their first game under his leadership but they still fell to a 1-0 loss at the King Power Stadium. Marsch was unable to call on Diego Llorente for the game, although he has revealed that the Spanish centre-back will be back involved against Aston Villa on Thursday. There is also a decision to be made over whether Adam Forshaw will come into the starting XI with the midfielder now fully fit, after only being deemed able to play from the bench last weekend.
Patrick Bamford was also involved in the squad on Saturday but the striker did not play as he was only fit for ten minutes and Leeds required all their substitutes before that. Marsch has stated that Bamford will 'for sure' play on Thursday, although he will not start.
Here is the list of players currently unavailable and when they are expected to return:
Tyler Roberts - hamstring
Roberts tore his hamstring soon after coming on as a substitute against Leicester. He had surgery on this injury earlier this week.
What Marsch said (09/03/2022): "I just want to acknowledge the injury with Tyler Roberts, you know it was kind of a freak accident on the pitch and we knew it was going to be pretty heavy injury right away. But Tyler was adamant about wanting to stay on the pitch for the rest of the match, which I appreciated. And it helped us a little bit maybe in set piece situations and whatnot."
Expected return: The forward is expected to be out for three or four months, meaning he won't return until pre-season of 2022/23.
Liam Cooper - hamstring
Cooper has been unavailable since December, after picking up a hamstring injury against Brentford which forced him off in the first half
What Marsch said (09/03/2022): "So Liam was in training yesterday, and I think he's making really good progress."
Expected return: When speaking about Cooper and Kalvin Phillips, he referenced the next international break as when he hoped to have them back in full training, meaning the first game they might be included in would be Southampton (H) on April 2.
Kalvin Phillips - hamstring
Like Cooper, Phillips was forced off against Brentford with a hamstring injury. This game claimed three Leeds players to hamstring injuries, as Bamford also picked up a hamstring strain after celebrating his injury time equaliser.
Phillips was forced to have surgery on his injury.
What Marsch said (09/03/2022): "Kalvin is is a few days behind. We will evaluate on Friday if he's ready to start to enter training. In my mind, I'm earmarking the international break as a time where we can really start to get them into a training rhythm and get him back to being at 100%. Maybe it happens earlier. Let's see. But I think what's most important at this juncture right now is that we don't have any setbacks and that we're building them in the right way. So that the curve of returning back to play is as steep as can be but has no interruptions."
Expected return: Southampton (H) April 2.
Leo Hjelde - knee
The young Norwegian picked up a knee injury late in the game against Everton and was also forced to have surgery to fix the problem.
What Marsch said (09/03/2022): "I think he had surgery Wednesday last Wednesday. So it's been eight days. Maybe it was Thursday, seven days. The immediate feedback has been that it was not so severe and that they trimmed up his knee really well. And his knee hasn't reacted. He doesn't have much swelling, has full range of motion and he's walking without a limp and looks like the recovery could be you know, a matter of weeks instead of months."
Expected return: Marsch was not specific about this, but there are positive noises that he will be able to play a part in matches before the end of the season, should he be needed.
