Largie Ramazani could make his return to action for Leeds in Sunday’s trip to Swansea after more than a month out.
The 23-year-old midfielder has missed the past four Whites games after limping off with an ankle injury in the home win over Watford on 22 October, a game in which he had given them an early lead.
With Leeds facing three games in less than six days – Swansea this weekend, a visit from Luton on Wednesday and a Saturday lunchtime game at Blackburn – manager Daniel Farke says he might need the Belgian among his substitutes.
“We have to keep in mind he was out for weeks, but he’s definitely an option to perhaps come in from the bench,” he told BBC Radio Leeds.
United have scored only five goals in the four games Ramazani has missed, taking seven points to miss the chance to take over at the top of the table.
They had scored a dozen goals and claimed 14 points from the previous six matches he had started, with Ramazani scoring in three of them and assisting in another.
Farke revealed Ramazani had joined in elements of training this week as players returned from international duty.
“The three games in six days will come a bit too soon for him to be available for the starting line-up but he could be a (possibility) for the squad and some short term appearances,” Farke added.
“Potentially for Sunday, we will decide it after the last training session on Saturday, but definitely as an option to perhaps come in from the bench.”
Brenden Aaronson is over an illness he had during the international break with the USA, and Max Wober should be in contention after playing 90 minutes for Austria, but Isaac Schmidt had hernia surgery during the break and will not return to training until next week.
While Swansea are the Championship’s lowest scorers with just 11 from 15 games, they have conceded just three goals in seven home games, something which Farke admires and is wary of.
“I’m pretty respectful,” he said. “All the teams were struggling to score against them. They are a good possession side, second highest in the league behind us.
“It’s not easy to get the ball. This is one of the key reasons it’s hard to score against them. We want to make sure we dominate possession.
“We know we have to be more efficient with our conversion rate. We know we have to be on it and make sure we create as many chances as possible.”