Phil Hay has dropped an update on the current condition of Leeds United centre-forward Joe Gelhardt.
What’s the latest?
In a recent post on Twitter, The Athletic’s Leeds United correspondent revealed that, after limping off with what initially appeared to be a dead leg in the U23’s 4-0 victory over Crystal Palace on Sunday evening, the 19-year-old is now set for further assessment to determine the seriousness of his knock.
In his post, the journalist said: “Due to have more assessments.”
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Marsch will be gutted
Considering the terrible luck Jesse Marsch has had with injuries since his arrival at the club back in March – with all of Patrick Bamford, Jamie Shackleton, Lewis Bate, Junior Firpo, Tyler Roberts and Leo Hjelde currently in the Elland Road treatment room – the news that Gelhardt could join the Whites’ stricken group ahead of Saturday’s six-pointer against Watford is sure to have left the 48-year-old gutted.
Indeed, with Bamford out of the season, should the 19-year-old be unavailable for selection this weekend, the American manager will have no fit centre-forwards in his first-team squad – something that could well lead to Marsch fielding Daniel James in a central attacking role once again.
However, with the winger having failed to impress when deployed through the middle so far this season – bagging just three goals over 17 appearances at centre-forward this season, as well as averaging an extremely disappointing WhoScored match rating of just 6.56 – it is clear to see that the absence of Gelhardt would come as a huge blow to Leeds’ chances of securing all three points at Vicarage Road.
And, with just eight points separating the 18th place Hornets and 16th place Leeds, a loss on Saturday could well see the Whites slip back into a fight for survival over the run-in of the Premier League campaign – an eventuality no one involved with the club will want to occur.
AND in other news: Orta can now axe “awful” £55k-p/w flop as Leeds eye “underrated” £12.5m-rated “threat”