Daniel Farke names Leeds United XI for Nottingham Forest as trio return | OneFootball

Leeds United have named their side for tonight’s Premier League meeting with Nottingham Forest at Elland Road, with one change and a timely bench boost.

According to yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk, Anton Stach drops out with a hip issue and Noah Okafor starts, while Ilia Gruev stays alongside Ethan Ampadu and Brenden Aaronson. Dan James, Jaka Bijol and Lukas Nmecha return on the bench, with Facundo Buonanotte omitted for selection reasons rather than injury.

On Wednesday, Bijol and James Justin returned to training after injuries, though Bijol still needed to see how his hamstring responded after three games out. Justin bruised a toe in the 4-0 defeat by Arsenal.

James trained last week as he recovers from the hamstring tendon problem sustained in the 3-2 loss at Manchester City in late November. He missed the Arsenal match but had been making progress, and now makes his first squad since the injury.

As of Wednesday, Nmecha had not returned to training and was unlikely to face Forest, though he was not far away. He is on the bench tonight to complete the triple boost.

Stach’s hip problem followed the Arsenal defeat and he is likely to miss tonight and Tuesday’s trip to Chelsea. He is probably out for 10 to 14 days.

Leeds United starting XI: Darlow, Bogle, Rodon, Justin, Struijk, Gudmundsson, Ampadu, Gruev, Aaronson, Okafor, Calvert-Lewin. Bench: Perri, Bijol, Bornauw, Longstaff, Tanaka, James, Gnonto, Nmecha, Piroe.

Source: yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk