Leeds United have the chance to move back into the automatic promotion places this evening as they travel to take on Millwall in the Championship.
Sheffield United’s win on Tuesday night pushed the Whites back down to third place but claiming all three points at The Den tonight would put them back into second place.
Daniel Farke‘s side have only lost one of their opening 13 matches in the division and will be hoping to continue their strong start to the campaign against Millwall.
In their most recent Championship match, the West Yorkshire team easily won all three points against Plymouth Argyle at Elland Road last weekend.
Joel Piroe, Brenden Aaronson, and Dan James all scored goals for Leeds in the first half of a 3-0 victory over Wayne Rooney’s team.
Leeds and Farke will undoubtedly be itching to improve and place in the top two this time around after missing out on promotion through the play-offs in the 2023–24 season.
After Ethan Ampadu and Ilia Gruev suffered long-term injuries, keeping their finest players healthy will be a top priority. James is one player who need cautious management.
Dan James’ current injury status
The Wales international was out for over a month before returning on October 16 after missing six games due to a hamstring injury.
James had to miss a training session last week due to what appeared to be a persistent hamstring problem, but he was able to participate in sessions on Thursday and Friday before starting against Plymouth, according to a report from the Yorkshire Evening Post earlier this week.
The problem needs to be handled cautiously because, as journalist Graham Smyth said in the lead-up to this match against Millwall, keeping James healthy feels “vital” for the Whites this season.
Farke might merely need to control his minutes and avoid giving the winger too many starts in the three games he has left before the year’s final international break.
Given how recently and for how long he was out, Leeds’ third game of the week against Queens Park Rangers at Elland Road on Saturday might put too much strain on the forward’s hamstring for him to start all three games.