Leeds United moved fifth in the Championship on Saturday.
Garry Monk has told TV Yorkshire that he expects injured Leeds United duo Chris Wood and Pablo Hernandez to be available for the Boxing Day visit to Preston North End.
Leeds moved fifth in the Championship table with a second straight home victory by beating Brentford 1-0 a Elland Road on Saturday.
Kyle Bartley headed home a 89th-minute winner as the Whites continued to enhance their promotion credentials after beating top-six rivals Reading 2-0 during the week.
For the most part, United are in cracking form but Monk has highlighted the increase of bumps and bruises in recent weeks, with Chris Wood being the latest casualty after suffering an injury in the midweek victory over the Royals.
Any club in the Championship would miss the creativity which Pablo Hernandez brings but the Spaniard has been sidelined for over six weeks, though he trained this week.
Wood – who has netted 11 times in the league this season – scores goals and Hernandez sets them up, but the Leeds boss said that the pair should be in contention for the Deepdale trip.
“He’ll have a good week’s training now and hopefully he will be back in contention for the weekend,” he told TV Yorkshire about Hernandez.
“And we’re hoping Chris could be apart of it [training] next week. He’s not going to lose too much fitness or conditioning in the small time he’s been out. Hopefully it’ll be the Preston game he’s available for.”
Leeds will have three games between December 26 and January 2 and having two players of that quality back could be vital. Wood’s absence was felt against Brentford and it’s a big boost if he, more so than Hernandez, started against the Lilywhites.
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