Ilia Gruev backs Leeds with 'incredible journey' message after season ending injury | OneFootball

Ilia Gruev has backed his Leeds United team-mates and vowed to return stronger after a knee injury ended his season ahead of Sunday’s FA Cup semi-final against Chelsea at Wembley.

The Bulgarian midfielder helped Leeds hit the 40-point mark in the Premier League and reach the last four, featuring in 23 league games and FA Cup wins over Derby County and West Ham United. He has made 86 appearances for the Whites and won a Championship title under Daniel Farke. According to yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk, the knee problem will keep him out until pre-season.

In a social media post he called himself gutted to miss the run-in, noted it hurts not being on the pitch this Sunday, and pledged to support from the sidelines. He is focusing on recovery and aims to come back stronger, while wishing his team-mates well. He believes their incredible journey can continue through the final games of a big season.

Team-mates quickly rallied. Gabriel Gudmundsson encouraged him to return stronger, Illan Meslier called him his brother, Pascal Struijk posted heart emojis and Anton Stach echoed the come-back message.

Leeds hope Stach can rejoin the squad for Sunday, although by Thursday afternoon he had not returned to team training. Late fitness tests were expected for Jayden Bogle, who took a heavy knock to his foot, and Sebastiaan Bornauw, who rolled his ankle in the warm-up.

Source: yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk