“He’s free,” £13 million Leeds United player should be ready to start this weekend, according to Daniel Farke.
The team at Leeds United will undoubtedly be tested to the utmost during the course of the next week.
Leeds’ FA Cup opening round 3-2 loss to Chelsea on Wednesday night marked the start of four games in nine days, a schedule that is actually busier than what they played during the holidays.
It’s safe to say that Daniel Farke has recently expressed his unhappiness with the schedule without holding back, and regrettably, certain players will have to put in 90 minutes of play in each of those games.
During the pre-match press conference, Farke acknowledged that he would have preferred Junior Firpo, who played the entire 90 minutes at Stamford Bridge, not to have played.
Farke feels Firpo should be ready for another start at Huddersfield Town, despite concerns about his current workload. Firpo has overcome some serious injury issues to get to this point in the season.
Farke affirms that Firpo is ready to go.
“Junior is fine, he played 90 minutes yesterday as well. However, I would have preferred to have started Jamie a little earlier because he wasn’t there for extended periods of time. I would have brought Sam in for extra time, but not before.” Junior, though, had to leave.
“He made some excellent passes early on, and I believe that in the end, it was beneficial for his confidence and another step in the right direction. We’ll see how he heals after playing against one of the best teams in the nation; I believe he will be ready for Saturday.
Leeds United vs. Chelsea: Emirates FA Cup Fifth Round
Firpo would undoubtedly want to continue playing because he is now enjoying the best run of form and availability that he has had at Leeds since joining from Barcelona in 2021 for £13 million.
But Leeds also won’t want to lose Firpo for an extended amount of time in the final stretch, especially considering how inconsistent Sam Byram’s fitness has been over the past two or three months.
Although Byram is again well and could play at Huddersfield, Firpo needs to maintain his level of fitness because you never know when an injury can strike again.
