It didn’t seem all too long ago that Wilfried Gnonto was downing tools in an attempt to force a move away from Elland Road.

The Leeds United winger had handed in a written transfer request in August 2023 and was left out of a number of matchday squads as a result. He eventually apologised and Daniel Farke promised to “give him a second chance” - and he has.

Should Gnonto feature against Sheffield Wednesday this weekend, the winger will reach 100 appearances for the Whites. It’s a notable single-club landmark for the Italian given his youthful age of 21.

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Should Gnonto begin the Yorkshire derby on Sunday, it would mean he has started 65 of his century of matches for United. Of those, 14 have come in 24 Premier League appearances - a tally he will hope to build on next year should he help Leeds back to the promised land.

A tribute to Jayden

United supporters have been invited to take part in a minute’s applause during the 10th minute of Sunday’s match in memory of young Leeds fan Jayden Bamford, who sadly passed away last month after a brave battle with acute myeloid leukemia.

The 10-year-old had met first-team players, including favourite player Gnonto, during a visit to Thorp Arch organised by the club last month. Jayden was a mascot earlier this season and now his sister, Darcy, will walk out as a mascot on Sunday with the number 10 on her back, as highlighted by the Yorkshire Evening Post.

A statement from Leeds United said: “Everyone at Leeds United were devastated to learn of the passing of young supporter Jayden Bamford. We welcome the family of Jayden to Elland Road on Sunday, including mum, dad, and sister.

“And we would like to encourage supporters to come together and join in a minute’s applause in the 10th minute of the match against Sheffield Wednesday, to celebrate the life of an inspiring member of the Leeds United family.”

Leeds fans top chart

Elland Road is set to be packed this weekend for a Yorkshire derby bout, as it was last weekend against near neighbours Harrogate Town in the FA Cup. There was hardly a spare seat in the house as United ran out 1-0 victors thanks to Largie Ramazani’s header.

In fact, Elland Road had the highest attendance out of all 10 home Championship clubs across the third round with the official attendance standing at 35,584, which included around 4,000 travelling Harrogate fans.

Most of the unused seats were delegated for segregation between the home and away fans. In contrast, just 6,126 supporters attended Sheffield United’s home defeat to Cardiff City a week last Thursday.

Ampadu on cup run

I spoke to Ethan Ampadu following the win over Harrogate and he did not sweep aside the idea of a cup run, despite the importance of the ultimate goal being to gain promotion to the Premier League.

The further Leeds progress into the competition, more questions will be asked about how much the competition will distract from league duties. But Ampadu is allowing supporters to dream of cup silverware.

Asked how important a cup run for Leeds this season, the captain said: “Massive, you never know what can happen in a cup run. But also, at the end of the day, it’s another game of football.

“We’re professional footballers because we love playing football and whenever you have the chance to go out there and put the shirt on it’s an amazing experience.”

United will host Millwall in the fourth round of the FA Cup across the weekend of February 8, meaning the Championship trip to Coventry City will be rescheduled.