Injury, illness and another transfer window with no new left-back have left Junior Firpo holding the fort in that Leeds United corner. Of the 1,200 minutes Leeds have played across the last 13 matches, Firpo has missed just 164.
For a man with such a wretched injury record since arriving in 2021, Firpo has put together a very consistent body of work in 2024. Wednesday was a night off Daniel Farke wanted to give the Dominican until Jamie Shackleton fell ill in the afternoon.
So Firpo had to step up for another 90 minutes, dealing with the likes of Noni Madueke and Raheem Sterling for the evening. It was far from perfect defensively, but Farke was encouraged by his defender’s attacking work, which had been lacking in recent outings, he feels.
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The 27-year-old began the year with four assists in four matches, but that output has dried up. Stamford Bridge seemed to tease some of that enterprise out of Firpo, especially as he linked up with the hugely impressive Jaidon Anthony.
Shackleton remains ill and unavailable this lunchtime, while Sam Byram is unlikely to be ready for anything more than 30 minutes from the bench. Connor Roberts or Archie Gray could be a consideration for Farke, given he wanted to rest Firpo in midweek, but the manager remains optimistic he should be ready for the derby.
“Junior is alright,” said Farke. “He played yesterday (Wednesday), 90 minutes, and, actually, I would have preferred to be a bit more careful. That was the reason I would have liked to start Jamie.
“Sam was not prepared for a long-term appearance. I also have to keep in mind he needs always a bit longer until he’s there, ready for the game.
“Just with one or two sessions and then to handle the pace of the Chelsea wingers [would have been too much]. For an emergency case, I would have brought Sam in during the extra time, but not before.
“So, Junior had to go the whole distance and I’m also quite pleased because [in] the last league game he didn’t have his best day in terms of attacking. He kept [Abdul] Fatawu relatively quiet, a really good winger, but in going forward he has shown in the weeks before he can be much more dangerous.
“Yesterday was a step forward, especially in going forward. He had some good passes and was also brave to create a lot together with Jaidon over the wing.
“For his confidence it was, in the end, good to have the game in going forward. Obviously, there were one or two scenes when he could have done a bit better in terms of defending, but, overall, it was another step forward again.
“I was then, in the end, quite pleased he played because, yes, he’s played against one of the really good sides in this country and he was competitive. This will do a lot for his confidence again.
“So, we’ll see how he recovers. It was not too bad today (Thursday) and I think he’s available also for Saturday.”