Leeds United hit by pre-season injury crisis as four players sidelined

Leeds United suffered a 3-2 defeat in their first pre-season game of the summer against Championship outfit Wrexham on Saturday evening.

Daniel Farke tested his squad in both halves of the game, and not too much should be read into the result of the game, given it was Leeds’ first pre-season clash.

Wrexham were also around a week or two ahead of Leeds in terms of fitness as they started their pre-season training early to prepare for the Championship campaign that starts before the Premier League.

However, a few big names were missing from Leeds in the game, and the club have a few injuries to sort out before the start of the Premier League campaign.

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Four Leeds United players have fitness concerns

Leeds have a few injury concerns during pre-season, which they hope to clear up by the time they travel to Nottingham Forest for their first Premier League game of the season in less than four weeks.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin didn’t play against Wrexham, and according to The Athletic reporter Beren Cross, he is training alone after suffering a minor setback during pre-season.

Leeds also didn’t field Jaka Bijol, who is nursing a knock he suffered in training, and the club did not want to take any undue risks this early in their preparations.

Defender Sebastiaan Bornauw was also not risked against Wrexham as he is struggling with his fitness after suffering a minor issue.

Ilia Gruev is still in rehabilitation from the knee injury he suffered towards the end of last season and is nowhere close to returning to the team any time soon.

Ao Tanaka and Gabriel Gudmundsson, who were on an extended break after playing in the World Cup this summer, were back late and looked off the pace.

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The Whites will hope to have a couple of them back soon

Leeds will next face Sunderland in their pre-season preparation on Thursday night, and hope to have a couple of them back in their team.

Bijol and Bornauw’s fitness issues are expected to be minor, and they could get their first chance this summer against Sunderland in a few days.

Leeds will closely monitor the fitness of Dominic Calvert-Lewin in the coming days before deciding. They would not want to take any risk with him ahead of the new season.

The Whites have games against Sunderland, Liverpool, RB Leipzig, Manchester United and FC Augsburg before their first game of the Premier League campaign.