Leeds and Birmingham injury latest before FA Cup tie as Paik setback, Stach and Struijk doubts | OneFootball

Leeds United visit Birmingham City in the FA Cup fourth round on Sunday with both sides juggling fitness issues. According to yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk, Birmingham suffered a fresh midfield setback in midweek and Leeds still have doubts.

Daniel Farke’s side drew 2-2 at Chelsea after trailing 2-0, Lukas Nmecha and Noah Okafor scoring. Nmecha started with 10-goal top-scorer Dominic Calvert-Lewin absent through illness, while Pascal Struijk and Anton Stach also missed out. Farke praised his team for coping without three key players through the spine.

Left-back Alex Cochrane has been out since New Year’s Day with an ankle injury and is pencilled in for an April return. January signing Kai Wagner has been covering. Ethan Laird has not trained since a hamstring issue in September and is not expected to feature.

Defender Jack Robinson, 32, has been sidelined since early January with a hamstring problem and was absent against West Brom. Midfielder Paik Seung-Ho fell awkwardly on a recently dislocated shoulder in Tuesday’s 0-0 draw, with Chris Davies concerned and the issue likely to keep him out.

For Leeds, Stach has missed two games with a hip problem, last featuring against Arsenal at the end of January. He is more realistically aiming for Aston Villa next week but could make the squad. Struijk missed Tuesday with hip flexor trouble, it is not thought overly serious and he will not be rushed, with rotation expected for the cup.

Source: yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk