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

RETURN: For Sam Byram, above. Photo by George Wood/Getty Images.

Sam Byram returns from a groin injury to come straight back into the XI as Jamie Shackleton drops to the bench for the sole change. New signings Ilia Gruev and Jaidon Anthony feature amongst the Whites substitutes for the first time but Djed Spence – who was an injury doubt – is missing along with captain Liam Cooper who has only recently returned to training upon recovering from a ruptured plantar fascia.

Dan James also returns from a groin injury to take his place on the bench alongside Glen Kamara as the summer signing from Rangers continues his wait for a first start. Kamara made his Whites debut as an 88th-minute substitute in the goalless draw at home to Sheffield Wednesday before the international break.

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 signing Spence was handed his first Leeds outing from the bench against the Owls but the injured Tottenham loanee star is missing from today’s matchday squad against the Lions. Farke revealed at Friday’s pre-match press conference that Spence was a major doubt after suffering a knock to his knee in training. The full back had earlier missed some training sessions due to private reasons.

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.

Story continues

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.

Referee: Chris Kavanagh.