Leeds United men make injury returns at Millwall with new faces on bench but stars miss out

New faces are on the Leeds United bench for Sunday’s return to Championship action at Millwall for which Whites boss Daniel Farke has made one change to his side.

Sam Byram returns from a groin injury to start, with Jamie Shackleton dropping to the bench as the only alteration. New signings Ilia Gruev and Jaidon Anthony make their Whites debut as replacements, although Djed Spence, who was an injury doubt, is absent, as is captain Liam Cooper, who has just recently returned to training after recovering from a damaged plantar fascia.

Dan James also returns from a groin ailment to join Glen Kamara on the bench as the summer acquisition from Rangers waits for his first start. Before the international break, Kamara made his Whites debut as an 88th-minute replacement in a goalless draw at home against Sheffield Wednesday.

But Kamara stays on the bench as 17-year-old Archie Gray continues his run of starts in midfield to partner Ethan Ampadu in the middle of the park. Gray started all seven of United’s first seven games of the season but did not join up with England’s under-17s during the international break due to Leeds managing his load and a minor injury.

Summer commitment Spence made his debut for Leeds off the bench against the Owls, but the injured Tottenham loanee is not in today’s matchday squad against the Lions. Farke said at the pre-match press conference on Friday that Spence was a significant doubt after suffering a knee injury in training. Due to personal obligations, the fullback had previously skipped some training sessions.

But fellow new summer recruits Gruev and Anthony appear amongst the substitutes for the first time having signed too late to feature against the Owls. Mateo Joseph, Darko Gyabi, Leo Hjelde and the injured Spence all drop off the bench that featured against Sheffield Wednesday to make way for James, Anthony, Gruev and latterly Shackleton who is replaced by Byram in the XI itself.

Patrick Bamford, Junior Firpo and Stuart Dallas remain out injured. Bamford will miss United’s next three games as he continues his recovery from a hamstring injury but Farke hopes the striker might return to team training by the end of next week or perhaps or the week after. Dallas remains sidelined as he continues on the long road back from his femoral fracture injury but the Northern Ireland international is improving.

Millwall boss Gary Rowett has made four changes to his side as Bart Bialkowski, Casper de Norre, Ryan Longman and Allan Campbell all come into the XI. Matija Sarkic (quad) and Shaun Hutchinson (calf) both drop out with injuries whilst Zian Flemming and George Saville drop to the bench.

Millwall: Bialkowski, Norton-Cuffy, Leonard, Cooper, Wallace, Longman, Mitchell, De Norre, Campbell, Bradshaw, Nisbet. Subs: Trueman, McNamara, Flemming, Watmore, Emakhu, Saville, Esse, Adom-Malaki, Harding.

Leeds United: Meslier; Ayling, Rodon, Struijk, Byram; Ampadu, Gray; Summerville, Gnonto, Piroe, Rutter. Subs: Darlow, Cresswell, Shackleton, Gruev, Kamara, Poveda, Anthony, James, Gelhardt.