Patrick Bamford (calf) and Sam Byram (hamstring) have joined longer-term injured players Stuart Dallas (femoral fracture), Karl Darlow (dislocated thumb), and Pascal Struijk (groin) on the sidelines for Saturday lunchtime’s Championship match at Plymouth Argyle, meaning Farke will be missing five players.

The top-of-the-table matchup between Bamford and Byram at Elland Road on Friday night is also anticipated to be

missed. Farke acknowledged that a comeback for any player for the Foxes

match would be a welcome surprise. However, further details regarding

Struijk’s injury—a groin strain that has kept the defender out longer than

anticipated—will also be revealed next week. Next week, Struijk, who hasn’t

played since Boxing Day, will have his injury rescanned.which, according to

Farke, will ascertain whether he can advance from his current one-on-one

training. While Darlow is expected to return in the next two weeks, Farke

warns that Dallas’ lengthy recovery from a femur fracture cannot be predicted.

After giving the most recent Bamford and Byram news, Farke was asked for

updates on Dallas, Darlow, and Struijk. She replied, “With Stuart it’s the same.”

He has all of the time he requires. It is currently impossible to talk about days

or anything else because he has been away for so many months.

“We support and provide for him consistently. He sees a number of consultants, and we make every effort to

collaborate with him in the most expert manner possible in the hopes that

everything will work out in the end. We make every effort to help him, and I

don’t want to put any pressure on him to provide a deadline.

“I said at the last press conference that it would take around two weeks with Karl Darlow. Since he won’t be eligible for the

games until after the March international break, he should be able to

return to team training soon. As of right now, it’s just a matter of days.

“And along withPascal, as we previously discussed, is scheduled to have a significant rescan early next week,

following which the physicians will determine whether to increase his

training load. He is now only conducting solo training, but by the middle of next

week, I believe he will have a somewhat better understanding.”

Farke was already without Byram, Struijk, Darlow, Dallas and Jamie Shackleton for Tuesday night’s clash at Swansea in which Bamford was then lost in the warm up. Whites no 9 Bamford was set to continue his recent run of starts but reported some discomfort in the warm up and was replaced by Joel Piroe in the front line. Farke revealed post-match that Bamford’s first reaction was that the injury was not too bad although it was hard to tell and the striker is now expected to be facing ten to 12 days out.

“Sadly not available for this upcoming game. Some problems with his calf,” said Farke. “We expect him not to be out for too long but he’s definitely not available for this game. I also don’t expect that he will be available for the upcoming game against Leicester.

“It would be a nice positive surprise if he makes it. We just think that he will be back for the cup game (at Chelsea) or perhaps the league fixture afterwards (Stoke). If he would be available for next Friday it would be a nice little surprise but he’s out more or less overall for ten to12 days.”

Farke also revealed that Byram was still out with a hamstring problems but that Shackleton was now back in the mix. Byram reported some minor muscle injuries in his leg after the weekend’s victory against Rotherham and missed the midweek clash at Swansea. Shackleton, meanwhile, had returned to team training after recent illness but then missed the mid-week win at Swansea due to private reasons as his partner gave birth to the couple’s first child.

When asked about Byram’s status, Farke responded, “Hamstring issues, also not available for the game.” In the same way, I don’t think Patrick will be prepared for Leicester. It would be a lovely little surprise if it could happen, but we will undoubtedly play the next game and most likely the Leicester game without Patrick and Sam.

However, there is excellent news on Jamie Shackleton: he has returned and is prepared to travel. He had his injury, of course, and then some excellent news. We are fortunate to have one more man in our corner at this time because we need every single one. Naturally, he was a little worn out, but he was a really happy man, and it’s nice to have return the favor. Naturally, Pascal Struijk (and Darlow) and Stuart Dallas have long-term ailments, but everyone else is well right now.”