Fresh off their best performance of the season so far, Leeds United are back in action on Wednesday when they travel to the MKM Stadium to take on Hull City.
The Championships fixture congestion can be brutal for any squad in the league and Leeds have their first sampling of it this season as they play the second of three games in six days. However, these runs of games can make or break teams in this league. String together a good run of results and you will most likely find yourself in the playoff positions or higher, albeit early in the season. But going on a bad run can see you lose a lot of ground on the teams near the top of the division within the space of a week.
Manager Daniel Farke said in his press conference that he does not want to make too many changes to the side that beat Millwall if he can as he does not want to “break the rhythm” of his side.
“Yes, a busy week with three games within six days but in general I’m not a fan of rotating too much because this can sometimes break the rhythm a little bit, but I’m always thinking about a few positions, but we definitely won’t change all eleven players.” Farke said.
Ethan Ampadu is a player that Leeds supporters will be hoping is fit enough to play on Wednesday as the midfielder has been one of their best players so far this season. Ampadu was seen to be limping at full-time after the Millwall game on Sunday.
Farke also addressed his fitness and availability in the press conference.
“Yes, he got a knock. There’s always a few question marks when there is a quick turnaround. Every game there is bruises, knocks. It doesn’t look too bad – it has improved a lot over the last 24 hours. He’s Welsh, so he’s a tough guy. He will be alright – let’s see how it develops over the next 24 hours.” He said.
Hull City have started the season well and currently sit in 5th place. Liam Rosenior’s men are also unbeaten in their last five games, in that run they picked up an impressive win over Leicester City, as they handed them their first loss of the season since being relegated from the Premier League.
Farke said he expects a different sort of challenge from Hull compared to the one posed by Millwall.
“I think it will be a different game in comparison to Millwall because Hull is a different side from the way they play. I rate the work of Liam Rosenior there, I’ve always liked his thoughts about football, his man management and in general I think they are a very good possession side who ask questions, especially with their quality in possession.
Against the ball we have to be unbelievably strong but also have to make sure that our quality with the ball in possession still shines, a tough place to go and it will be a complicated task like every game in the Championship.”