Relief over Leeds United ACL scare but injuries hit Daniel Farke's squad for Plymouth Argyle FA Cup tie

Gray and James limped out of Wednesday's 1-0 win over Norwich City at Elland Road with knee and groin issues respectively but boss Daniel Farke is relieved that neither appear to be significant injuries.

"We have a few players who will not be available, Archie Gray is definitely out for this game," he said. "I would still say some good news because there's nothing with the ACL, just a hit and a bruise but it's not possible for him to join us in team training. Hopefully some time next week he will be back."

James' injury could keep him out longer than Gray, though. Farke is not anticipating the winger's return to training next week.

"Daniel James will be out, it's a little strain," said the manager. "He slipped during the game, it's his adductor. It's not too bad, I think. I think he will also be out for the Bristol game, a couple of weeks probably. I hope he's back for the next home game. We still are without Pascal Struijk and all the other topics, so it's more or less what we spoke about."

Farke admits there will be changes to the starting line-up so he can bring in fresh legs, but he insists Leeds are out to progress in the competition so will go strong against Argyle.

"The first topic as we take this game more than serious, we're a big believer in cup runs," he said. "When we represent Leeds United we want to be at our best, we want to go into the next round, but we won't do anything stupid. It's a quick turnaround, a late kick-off Wednesday and then Saturday afternoon is a bit tricky. There will be a few more changes than you would perhaps expect for a league game. But we still want to go with a strong starting XI. We want to keep this run going and stay in our rhythm, it's important to find a good balance. We have competition in the squad and some more recovered players with fresh legs are more beneficial for this game in order to be successful."

Leeds have been without Struijk since the West Brom defeat at the end of December but Farke can call upon club captain Liam Cooper if he wants to rest Ethan Ampadu or move the Welshman back into midfield for the cup tie.

"Pascal Struijk is definitely out for this game and pretty clear he will also miss the Bristol game. He's still doing injection therapy and the doctor said next week we can be a bit clearer about the timeframe. Hopefully next week I can give a more detailed overview.

"Willy is back in training, he trained yesterday in a pretty intense session. He's available for this game," Farke added.

Stuart Dallas remains the club's long-term injury absentee.