In place of Ilia Gruev, Leeds United will have a number of choices for the holding midfield position when play begins tomorrow.

Leeds United will want to instantly make amends for a disappointing away day when they face off against Hull City tomorrow night, putting their stumble at Watford firmly to the back of their minds with a win back on home turf.

There will be some selection headaches for Daniel Farke to wrestle with before the showdown against the Tigers at Elland Road, with Wilfried Gnonto and Connor Roberts both expected to be absent against Liam Rosenior’s men.

Ilia Gruev’s inclusion back in Farke’s XI could be touch and go up to kick-off, so the German boss will have a list of players who he can rely on to play in holding midfield over the ex-Werder Bremen man, depending on if he feels he needs to reshuffle the back four owing to Liam Cooper’s poor showing at Vicarage Road.

Here are three options the Whites manager could think about playing here if his trusted Bulgarian number 44 remains sidelined…

1The Best Option

Ethan Ampadu

The Leeds manager could well stick by Ethan Ampadu in one of the holding roles alongside Glen Kamara, who filled in there for Gruev versus the Hornets.

However, this could be a risky selection choice to stick by, considering Cooper failed to deal with the likes of Emmanuel Dennis throughout the contest when drafted in to play in the heart of defence instead of the Welshman.

Farke might well keep the faith in Cooper regardless of his torrid night costing Leeds dear in the 2-2 draw, with Ampadu more than comfortable playing at holding midfield again if needs be.

The ex-Chelsea youngster won all four of the duels that came his way on Friday night, but was ultimately let down by other lax members of the starting XI in the eventual draw.

2The tactical tweak

Archie Gray into midfield