Leeds United will be looking to end the year strongly with trips to Stoke City and Derby County as they to strengthen their position in the automatic promotion places in the Championship.

Daniel Farke's side continued their fine form at Elland Road on Saturday with a 4-0 win over Oxford United. However, away fortunes will need a complete change in the last week of 2024 if they are going to continue to push for a return to the Premier League.

Injuries have been less of a worry for Leeds supporters in the last few weeks - Sam Byram, Jayden Bogle and Joe Rodon have all overcome their injury problem. Despite this, there are still a few players that have been absent in recent games.

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Here is the latest from the Thorp Arch treatment room ahead of a busy last week of the year:

Pascal Strujik

The defender missed his first league minutes of the season in the weekend's win against Oxford United but was named on the bench as an unused sub. Daniel Farke revealed that he didn't want to take a risk on aggravating his hamstring injury and kept Strujik on the bench.

“He was able to train yesterday but it would have been a little risk,” Farke said. “I took the decision not to risk him. Ethan has not played in the centre-back role for ages but he looked sharp in training.

"We still have a pretty busy period coming up. I didn't want to take too much risk but I wanted to have Pascal on the bench. It's always a good feeling when you look left and see him on the bench and if you need to win a header in the last five or 10 minutes in a tight game.”

Max Wober

Wober has struggled for game time this season as injury has largely prevented him from taking to the field. After not making a league appearance for his club, he has since played four times in the Championship for the Whites since the end of the November international break - filling in at left-back.

The Austria international suffered swelling to his knee after the win against Middlesbrough earlier this month. Since then, he hasn't featured in the matchday squad but could be in-line for a return against Stoke City on Boxing Day.

Potential squad return: Stoke City (A) - December 26.

Junior Firpo

The full-back suffered a hamstring injury early on in the 2-0 win over Derby County at the start of December and was replaced by Wober. Farke revealed at the time that Firpo would likely be out for around four to six weeks.

His contract comes to an end at the close of the 2024/25 season. He has six months left to convince the club to give him a new deal or to find a new club. However, he will have to wait a little longer to make his case on the pitch.

Possible squad return: Mid-January

Ilia Gruev

Gruev has been absent from Leeds' matchday squad since the away draw with Norwich City back in October. The midfielder was substituted in the 20th minute after suffering a serious knee injury.

Farke has said that the 24-year-old has returned to team training. It is unlikely though that Gruev will return to the starting XI or bench until towards the end of next month.

Possible squad return: Late January