Inside Elland Road: Brenden Aaronson praise
Four Leeds United players will head off for international duty with Wales next week.
Leeds United’s Daniel James has returned to the Wales squad for this month’s international fixtures, having missed the October break through injury.
Craig Bellamy named his 26-man squad on Wednesday ahead of two massive 2026 World Cup qualifiers. Wales head to Liechtenstein on Saturday November 15 before hosting North Macedonia in Cardiff the following Tuesday, a game which is likely to decide who finishes second in Group J to earn a World Cup qualifying play-off spot.
The Leeds quartet will first be focused on Sunday’s Premier League meeting with Nottingham Forest, a game they could do with taking points from following last weekend’s disappointing 3-0 defeat at Brighton. All four will then join up with their international teammates in Wales before jetting off to Liechtenstein next week.
Rodon and Ampadu have been virtually ever-present when fit, the latter only missing two Premier League games so far due to injury, while goalkeeper Karl Darlow got a string of first-team minutes when Lucas Perri was out injured. The Welsh quartet are joined in Bellamy’s squad by Ben Davies, Neco Williams, Brennan Johnson and Harry Wilson, among others.
Dan James’ Leeds United injury uncertainty last month
James was at the centre of injury-related concerns in the weeks leading up to the October break, with rumours the speedy winger had picked up a serious knee injury that would keep him out for a long period. Wales boss Craig Bellamy clarified it was an ankle issue before Leeds provided some clarity of their own.
“He has an ankle problem,” Bellamy said after initially naming James in his October squad. “We’ll wait and see, nothing has been confirmed yet so if it’s good, brilliant, but if it isn’t then we’ll adapt. We’re just waiting for confirmation. It’s still too early so we’ll wait and see on that.”
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A club spokesperson said at the time James’ absence was not expected to be long-term and the YEP initially understood he’d be out for around six weeks. The 27-year-old managed to return ahead of schedule, with his appearance off the bench at Burnley coming just three weeks later.
James has come off the bench twice more since that 25-minute cameo at Turf Moor, getting five minutes of action against West Ham and a further half-hour at Brighton on Saturday. The Welshman could be set to enjoy a first Leeds start since August on Sunday if Farke deems his pace necessary against Forest.
Brenden Aaronson has started at right-wing on the last seven occasions, at times out of necessity with James and Willy Gnonto both injured at the same time, but the American kept his place at Brighton after scoring against West Ham.
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