Possible injury blow for Leeds United upcoming opponents as ex-Whites man's twin is assessed

Stopper Matija Sarkic, twin brother of former Leeds player Oliver, has played every minute of the Lions’ Championship campaign to date but an injury sustained prior to the September 2 draw with Birmingham City kept him out of international action during the break.

Sarkic had played all of Montenegro’s last three international fixtures but was forced to sit out last week’s draw with Lithuania and the weekend win over Bulgaria.

Rowett is hopeful that the problem is a minor one but cannot yet say if Sarkic will make it back to face Leeds this weekend.

“Matty picked up a quad injury in the week leading up to the Birmingham game,” Rowett told the South London Press.

“He got through the game fine but felt sore off the back of it. We’re assessing that and trying to work out if it is a short-term injury or something a little bit more sinister. Hopefully it is not too serious. It’s disappointing he’s felt it because his form has been excellent – saving the penalty against Birmingham was an additional moment where you can see the quality he has.”

Rowett’s other options are 36-year-old Bart Bialkowski, who last played a league game on New Year’s Day, and 27-year-old Connal Trueman, who is yet to feature for The Lions. Bialkowski is by far the more experienced of the pair, with 333 Championship games on his CV. Trueman, by comparison, has just 14 appearances to his name in the English second tier and only 25 more in League One.

“I have two very good goalkeepers at very different stages of their careers,” said Rowett.

“Young Connal is a really good keeper who I think will get better and better. He will really start to keep the other keepers at the club on their toes, because he is hungry to first be a number two and then a number one in his own right. Bart has been a safe pair of hands for this football club for a long time. Towards the end of last season I had a really difficult debate on which goalkeeper to pick. Did I go for the experience of Bart? That was always in my mind."

Rowett says he is more than comfortable if Bialkowski has to replace Sarkic for the visit of the Whites. The Pole has won four and drawn one of his 11 previous outings against Leeds for Southampton, Ipswich and Millwall, conceding 17 goals and keeping a single clean sheet. He played in each of the games between the Lions and Leeds in the 2019/20 campaign.

“If Bart plays then I’d have absolutely no qualms whatsoever about putting him back in as number one,” said Rowett.

"I think he’s step up. He’s the type of player who would be desperate to show what he is all about once more, like he has done so many times in a Millwall shirt. I’d be really confident with Bart’s ability and Bart’s character – he’s a great guy.”