Leeds United take on Southampton in the Championship play-off final at Wembley on Sunday afternoon and here is the latest from the Thorp Arch treatment room
Sam Byram, right, missed the second leg of Leeds United’s play-off semi-final win over Norwich
Leeds United and Southampton will compete in the so-called ‘richest game in football’ at Wembley on Sunday afternoon. Both teams successfully negotiated home play-off semi-final second-leg ties with relative ease after initial tense but tame goalless draws on the road.
Goals either side of half-time from Ilia Gruev, Joel Piroe, Georginio Rutter and Crysencio Summerville sealed the Whites’ place in the showpiece fixture. But United face a tough test in their quest to make it sixth time lucky in the play-offs, with Southampton having defeated them twice in the regular season.
Here is the latest news from the Thorp Arch treatment room as the Whites continue their preparations for the final.
The popular defender missed their second leg against Norwich due to a hip flexor problem. He was replaced in the starting XI by Joel Piroe, who put in a sparkling performance to fully justify his recall.
What Farke said: “It was always the plan, after a really good first game, to go a bit more for it in this second game and I had this in my mind. To leave Sam Byram out was definitely forced because he had an injury with his hip flexor.
Would I have started him anyway? Probably yes because he is experienced, but I would have definitely taken a fourth offensive-thinking player into the game because we wanted to go for it today and not just wait for a penalty shootout or something like this.
“Although, we were also prepared for that, but we wanted to attack this game and the lads delivered in these terms in a perfect way.”
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