Daniel Farke has doubled down on his insistance he expects Leeds United to have a quiet January transfer window amid his caution to not to bloat the squad and disrupt team “unity”.

Leeds will be without Patrick Bamford for around four weeks due to a hamstring injury while Joel Piroe will miss Saturday’s FA Cup clash with Harrogate Town after suffering a muscle issue. As a result, Farke has refused to rule out the arrival of an attacker ahead of deadline day.

Speaking of his striker options besides Bamford, the 48-year-old said: “We have got Joel Piroe, Mateo Joseph, a few young prospects in our academy. And perhaps a player like Willy Gnonto can also play striker.

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“So we are not in panic mode. But it is definitely a position we should be aware of with what happens in January right now.”

Leeds have been boosted by the return of long-term absentees Junior Firpo and Ilia Gruev to team training this week. Farke is conscious of the size of his squad and labelled that as one reason why he is hesitant to have a mass influx of transfer arrivals in January.

He added: “Several of the long term injured players are back. Firpo is back, Illia looks good in training. Options are good to have, but if you have too many and the group is too big it can divide the group.

“We have a perfect unity and this is why we are the team that has won more points, we don't want to risk that spirit in the group. That spirit is more important in the crunch time and as things stand we are the best team in the league at the top.

“If there is a new injury we will change our plans, but at the moment we expect a quiet January.”

Farke framed the January transfer window as an opportunistic one for Leeds this year, and will snap up a bargain if he comes across one or should a quality player become available. He says he has got the backing and trust of the owners to navigate the window as he sees fit.

“If you offer me Jude Bellingham tomorrow, or Virgil Van Dijk wants to come to us then I would explore it, but you don't get offered those types of players,” Farke said.

“If there are one or two positions when we are weak then it is important to stay awake to it and spend some money.

“It is difficult to improve our squad right now. If there is a bargain, then we will stay awake to that. The ownership trust me and that is why I am signed as manager.”