Daniel James was back in a Leeds United shirt for the first time in more than two months against Nottingham Forest and could feature against Chelsea
Brian Dick Reach Football Correspondent
13:17, 09 Feb 2026
Daniel Farke has welcomed Daniel James back into the Leeds United match-day squad – and insists Facundo Buonanotte has responded well to being left out of the group which faced Nottingham Forest.
James returned to the 20 for the 3-1 win over Forest and made his first appearance since November 29 when he came off the bench to replace Brenden Aaronson with 12 minutes remaining.
Farke hopes now the Wales international can kick on and have a stronger end to what has been a difficult campaign.
Speaking ahead of Tuesday night’s clash with Chelsea, the head coach said: “It’s good that we have him back, two weeks back in team training after being out for eight or nine weeks.
“Normally you need time especially due to the fact even before it was more like an on-off season in terms of injury – and even the end of last season was a bit like this.
“But DJ is a very experienced player, knows his body, knows exactly what he has to do, he has looked after his body in his rehab and came back in good shape.
“Each and every day on the training pitch is beneficial, I think he looked quite sharp in training, this is the reason he was involved in the match-day squad and he also looked quite sharp offensive-wise going forward with his pace and created two or three dangerous situations. We are all happy, hopefully he can stay fit and can show what he is capable of.”
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James’ return saw Buonanotte displaced and having been involved as a sub in the previous two matches, he might not now even be involved against former loan club Chelsea. The Argentine started the campaign at Stamford Bridge but played just 45 minutes of Premier League football, compelling Brighton to recall and reallocate him.
Farke commended him for his reaction to being left out: “We had a training session on Saturday morning with a smaller group – a proper session, yesterday was a light session, with some tactical preparation it was not like you could impress too much.
"Facundo is a top guy we are all happy we have him here and for that he reacted the way we expected.”