Leeds United had a number of injury concerns following the international break, but the return of Ilia Gruev, Connor Roberts, and Willy Gnonto bolstered their chances against Coventry City.
Leeds suffered their first league defeat of 2024 at the weekend, as playoff aspirants Coventry City put up a tough fight and earned a deserved victory.
Pre-match injury boosts were Ilia Gruev, Connor Roberts, and Willy Gnonto, who returned to the squad for the first time since their individual international setbacks.
Connor Roberts makes his return off the bench for Leeds.
Leeds had a forgettable afternoon, unable to capitalise on Ipswich Town’s defeat of rivals Norwich City by losing 2-1 against Coventry City.
The second half did have a silver lining, as Roberts and Gnonto joined Gruev on the pitch, allowing all three to return ahead of schedule from injury setbacks.
Roberts played the whole second half in place of Glen Kamara, forcing Archie Gray into midfield, but Leeds were unable to secure a point against the Sky Blues.
Phil Hay provides an update on Roberts before of Sunderland’s encounter.
Phil Hay of The Athletic provided an update on Roberts’ fitness ahead of this week’s rapid turnaround to face Sunderland on Tuesday night during an appearance on The Square Ball podcast.
“That seems like a simple alteration to make, with Gray moving into midfield. I believe the only question will be how long Roberts can play.
“He went for 45 minutes today, but Farke was saying they were really pushing him to the maximum by doing that because I think he’d only had one training session before the weekend, but that’s probably the area to keep an eye on.”
Roberts being fit to start would be massive for Leeds.
Our latest injuries have left us without backup at either full-back or deep in midfield.
With Gruev and Roberts returning, Gray can theoretically move to midfield if necessary, and our balance improves significantly.
With Sunderland and Blackburn Rovers playing back-to-back games this week, we need to pick up six points and stake our claim for the top two.
