The Athletic's Phil Hay has delivered the latest regarding Leeds United's injury situation ahead of their Premier League clash against Burnley next weekend.
What's the story?
Marcelo Bielsa's side saw their games against Liverpool and Aston Villa this week both postponed, meaning that the next time they are scheduled to be in action is at Elland Road on Sunday when they take on Sean Dyche's Clarets.
With the Whites suffering from deepening injury and illness crises in recent weeks, the extra days off could prove to be crucial, but Hay has delivered a more worrying update on where things currently stand.
Writing for The Athletic, he revealed: "None of the club’s injuries are certain to clear up this side of the new year and they were so short of numbers against Arsenal that eight of the players on the bench, all of them under-23s, stood to make Premier League debuts if Bielsa sent them on as substitutes.
"Liam Cooper and Kalvin Phillips, two of the most regular fixtures in Bielsa’s line-up, are not expected to return from hamstring injuries until the end of January at the earliest. Patrick Bamford, Rodrigo, Pascal Struijk and Dan James have more minor problems but were all doubts for the Anfield fixture."
No respite for Leeds
If Whites fans thought that the two games being postponed would allow some of their key players to recuperate and get back to fitness, then Hay's update is sure to leave them feeling gutted.
With the festive schedule in full flow and such a quick turnaround between matches, even the clash against Burnley this weekend seems to be a bit too soon for some of Leeds' injured players to come back.
Hay's prognosis on Cooper and Phillips is sure to be a big worry for Bielsa given their respective leadership roles, while the fact that several of the manager's preferred starting line-up in the likes of Bamford, Rodrigo, Struijk and James all have "minor problems" just adds to his ongoing selection headache.
There's been no respite for Leeds in what has been a turbulent season, and there just seems to be no letting up any time soon either.
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