Leeds United cannot afford to lose many more first-team players to injury.
Ilia Gruev played another 45 minutes of international football on Sunday evening despite Bulgaria boss Ilian Iliev admitting he had ‘problems’.
Bulgaria fell to their second 3-0 defeat of the September international break on Sunday evening, this time against Georgia after losing by the same scoreline to Spain on Thursday. Leeds United midfielder Gruev played 90 minutes against the latter but was somewhat surprisingly benched over the weekend.
Iliev introduced his Premier League midfielder to the fore at half-time in Tbilisi, with Bulgaria 2-0 down at the time before conceding a third on 65 minutes. Gruev continued to play right up until full-time despite the fixture being all but over, and the emergence of a potential fitness issue will raise concerns in West Yorkshire.
"Before, there were four days between matches, now there are three days plus travel,” Bulgaria head coach Iliev said, as quoted by Palms Sport. “Ilia Gruev had problems, it was questionable whether to start or come in as a substitute. He came in and coped, I hope there are no consequences from the fact that he played with problems.”
Bulgaria’s September international commitments are now over and Gruev will head back to the UK, but the suggestion of a fitness issue will be a huge concern for Daniel Farke. The Leeds boss is already down to the bare bones in midfield, with Ethan Ampadu and Ao Tanaka both missing recent matches, and might be excused for being unhappy with the decision to play one of his three available midfielders through such ‘problems’
Ampadu has been out since the opening-weekend win over Everton with a knee injury and is expected back at some point after this break, while Tanaka picked up a similar issue just one week later. Their absence has made Gruev’s availability all the more important, with the defensive-midfielder sitting between Anton Stach and Sean Longstaff.
Leeds United injury latest amid Ethan Ampadu and Ao Tanaka absences
Leeds went into the 2025/26 campaign with central midfield arguably the strongest area of their squad, but two quickfire injuries have seen Farke’s group of available options shrink from five to three. An injury to Gruev would leave the Whites boss with a serious selection headache ahead of this weekend’s trip to Fulham.
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Farke can only hope Gruev’s ‘problems’ are not serious at all and that was taken into account by the Bulgaria boss on Sunday, even during a 25-minute spell where his side were 3-0 down and already defeated. The midfielder will return to West Yorkshire for assessment by the club’s medical staff, with an update expected later this week.
Farke will speak with the media ahead of that Saturday afternoon trip to Craven Cottage and should provide an update on the state of his entire squad. There is hope Ampadu and Tanaka will both have made good progress over the international break, while the likes of Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Noah Okafor will have had chance to work on their fitness levels.
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