‘Definitely a chance’ - Daniel Farke drops hint over Leeds debuts vs Chelsea

Daniel Farke has confirmed it is possible that three Leeds United players could earn their debuts against Chelsea in tomorrow's League Cup tie, amid a possible change in goal.

James Trafford started the 2-0 win over Nottingham Forest in the last round having missed a large chunk of pre-season and Farke felt it best for him to benefit from more game time with his new teammates.

That match took place before the arrival of new number two Michael Zetterer, who will be back-up to £40m club record signing Trafford as long as the Englishman is fit, aside from cup matches when rotation is expected.

And as such, Zetterer could make his Leeds bow at Stamford Bridge. Farke outlined that he had not nailed down his starting XI just yet but when asked about his thoughts on the goalkeeper, offered some context.

On whether Zetterer could make his debut, the manager explained on Tuesday: “Of course, there's always a possibility, so it always depends on the situation.

“First round, I got the feeling that James needs to come a bit more into his rhythm, and he also needs games. At the moment, there's also lots of work load on him, not just physically but also mentally.

“And also Michael is a very experienced goalkeeper. Has also played on Champions League level, of course.

"There's also a chance for a potential debut, but yeah. So we'll just take the decision after the training session today, perhaps even tomorrow morning.”

Meanwhile, deadline day signing Melvin Bard and Jean-Matteo Bahoya could earn their first appearances too. The pair made the bench in Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Brighton & Hove Albion but were not used.

Farke confirmed there will be more rotation in his team than would be the case for a league game and therefore underlined that both Bard and Bahoya could get minutes. He said: “We want to be difficult to predict and also flexible, and yeah, there is also a chance right now to rotate a bit due to this relatively quick turnaround.

“And of course, at this stage of the competition, I would perhaps rotate a bit more than would do for a normal game. That's quite normal. So for that, the chance for that is definitely there.”

Commenting further on their first steps in Leeds training, Farke added: “You can see his [Bard] maturity, even during the first training sessions.

“Jean-Matteo, really good guy, very pacey guy, and also brave to take players on. Of course, he needs a bit of time to adapt to the style of English football in the Premier League. But overall, really good guys, and hopefully they will also prove their sporting worth.”

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