Daniel Farke had one of the strongest benches in Championship history for Leeds United’s win over Derby County at Elland Road.
Leeds eased to a 2-0 victory in one of Saturday’s three lunchtime kick-offs in what was a match where the gulf in class was so clear that Rams boss Paul Warne felt ‘uncomfortable‘ watching on the sidelines.
Farke‘s side all but had the game wrapped up at half-time as Joe Rodon and Max Wober both netted their first goals for the club just before the break.
Wober was actually one of the five substitutes Farke used during the match as he replaced the injured Junior Firpo at left-back after just 20 minutes.
Firpo looks set to at least miss Tuesday night‘s clash with Middlesbrough after confirmation from Farke that he picked up a hamstring problem, having initially been a doubt due to a foot knock in training.
Farke makes Wilfried Gnonto admission after Leeds win
Despite such a poor defeat at Blackburn Rovers last time out, Farke opted to make just one change to his starting XI to face Derby.
Manor Solomon was brought back into the attack in place of Wilfried Gnonto, who after starting all of Leeds’ opening 15 matches, has been a sub in two of the last four.
Farke really was spoilt for choice in terms of options from the bench as Gnonto joined the likes of Wober, Largie Ramazani, Patrick Bamford, Mateo Joseph and even returning club captain Ethan Ampadu.
The Leeds boss was asked the reasons for Gnonto being dropped in his post-match press conference with Leeds Live, and revealed one of the ‘many reasons’ was down to him performing better as a sub in recent weeks.
He said: “With Willy, many reasons there. First is lots of competition. Willy played the last two. Busy week to come. Daniel James and Solomon had end products in the last games.
“Willy good, but better from the bench recently. The yellow cards also, the cut-off day. I need him this week. Share the load in a busy week.”
Gnonto and Joe Rodon escape suspension for Leeds
The win against Derby was Leeds’ 19th match of the season and so was the cut-off point for players to pick up suspensions for five bookings.
Gnonto and Rodon, as they have been for several weeks, were Leeds’ only two players at risk of being banned heading into the match.
And in what is a huge boost for Farke heading into a big game against Middlesbrough, both have successfully been able to navigate the suspension tightrope.
It would not be a surprise to see Gnonto back into the starting XI on Tuesday night.
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