It was revealed on Thursday that Ethan Ampadu would not be undergoing surgery for his knee cartilage injury after all.

Daniel Farke said Leeds United would be going down the "conservative” route, meaning a rehabilitation programme that will see him out of team training for around four to six weeks. Going under the knife would have ruled him out for the season. Instead, there is now the chance he makes the run-in period, albeit Farke described this as 50-50.

Bumping into Ampadu, who gave a warm welcome, before Thursday’s press conference at Thorp Arch, the captain was seen in good spirits and moving fairly freely. Of course, he will be frustrated to be injured but he was by no means in a downcast mood.

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And coming out of the press conference, this correspondent saw Josuha Guilavogui speaking to a staff member while on his way to do activation - the short exercise stretches before more intense warm-up training.

He is always seen with a smile on his face and so it was little surprise that he exuded an air of positivity with a bounce in his step. Team morale is understandably very high right now.

A tribute to Leslie

United are planning to commemorate the life of Leslie Bray, the club’s oldest season ticket holder, who sadly passed away aged 99 recently. Leslie had held a season ticket for more than 50 years and went viral online last season.

The former RAF Navigator, who flew Lancaster bombers in World War II, had been bravely battling dementia, yet knew all the words of ‘Marching On Together’ without missing a beat. A video of him signing along to the anthem gathered several million views on social media.

The club, who invited him to Wembley for last year's play-off final as a VIP guest, will stage a round of applause in memory of Leslie 10 minutes before kick-off against West Bromwich Albion on Saturday, at 12.20pm.

Season finale moved

United’s season-closer away at Plymouth Argyle on May 3 has been moved to a 12.30pm kick-off, as has the rest of the final day Championship fixtures. This has happened for the last few second-tier seasons, with the EFL ensuring all games are played at the same time as clubs fight for promotion, a play-off place and survival.

United will hope to have promotion wrapped up by then, which will create a party atmosphere in the away end. Plymouth are currently battling relegation and might need a result on the final day, which could create an open game.

If the hosts do get relegated, there will be a chasm of contrasting emotions at Home Park and signify that the two clubs would then therefore be separated by two divisions. The early kick-off means an early set-off or an overnight stay for travelling fans.

Of course, this is always far from ideal, but perhaps on this occasion, any promotion celebrations will take the edge off on a summer’s day on the South coast.