Marcelo Bielsa’s intense approach to training seems to have taken an effect on his players with several key members of the squad being ruled out due to injury. Kemar Roofe, Pablo Hernandez, Gaetano Berardi, Patrick Bamford and Conor Shaughnessy have all been ruled out for the last month and with a small squad at his disposal, Bielsa has had to put square pegs in round holes in recent weeks.
Despite the issues, Leeds still lie third in the Championship heading into the break, behind league leaders Sheffield United and West Brom, who are looking to boing-boing back to the Premier League at the first attempt. In their last game, a 1-1 draw with fellow promotion hopefuls Brentford, saw winger Stuart Dallas fill in at left-back due to the injury to Barry Douglas, despite the fact he was carrying a muscle injury.
This two-week break from club football leaves Bielsa with time to let his players recover. He said: "Two big plans. The first plan is to make the players who play a lot get some recovery. And then the second plan is to make the players who play less to get fitter for the game against Blackburn."
Leeds travel to Ewood Park for the early kick-off on October 20th, which should leave his playing squad looking a lot stronger than it currently does. Leeds must avoid these sorts of injuries, as well as burnout in the winter months if they are to achieve promotion to the Premier League this season.
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