Leeds United men with several injury issues this season surely nearing summer exit but unfortunately…
Leeds United midfielder Jamie Shackleton has barely been involved for the club of late, partly down to the strength of Daniel Farke’s squad, but also due to his own injury setbacks.
At the start of the 23/24 season, Farke was up against it when naming squads for each week, having to field two goalkeepers on his bench for the second game of the season due to a lack of depth.
The opposite is now the case with difficult decisions needing to be made as to who misses out from the 18 on a matchday.
A core part of the squad in pre-season and in August was Jamie Shackleton, who offered great versatility and energy to the Leeds side amidst the lack of options.
His influence on the side has dropped off significantly since that run of games to kickstart the season, playing in various positions, with his last league start coming in October.
Alongside Leeds’ recovery with depth and quality, Shackleton has been suffering from various frustrating setbacks, the latest being concussion, seeing him forced to follow protocol that ruled him out of games against Stoke City and Sheffield Wednesday.
There’s a big elephant in the room with Shackleton’s latest setback, and that’s the fact that he’s moving closer and closer to a contract expiry in the summer.
He hasn’t been able to build on his solid start to the campaign, instead seeing his importance diminish, understandably so with Farke building a promotion-worthy squad.
Having suffered a succession of injury problems this season since his early form, it does seem like we might be seeing the last of Shackleton in a Leeds shirt in the back end of the campaign.
Whether he gets the chance to play another game before the end of the season remains to be seen, given the options available to the German.
