The Leeds United defender’s daughter is due to arrive imminently.
Barry Douglas may not be the only one of Leeds United’s key players to miss the Whites’ visit of Brentford, according to Marcelo Bielsa.
Bielsa has ruled Douglas out of Saturday’s fixture with a hamstring pull suffered against Hull City on Tuesday.
“He won’t be available for this coming game,” the Leeds manager told the Yorkshire Evening Post.
“It’s a difficulty not to have all the players available. We have the solution of (Stuart) Dallas before Douglas arrive and he played an important role before he arrived. We also have Tom Pearce. Without minimising the impact of Douglas was always try to find solutions.”
“I think he’ll be available after the international break.”
But while Leeds should have the cover to cope with the loss of their £3 million summer signing, they may not fare quite so well if Pontus Jansson is unavailable.
Jansson’s partner is due to give birth any time, which could leave the Whites short of options at the heart of their defence with Gateano Berardi sidelined.
Asked if the Sweden international will be forced to miss any of Leeds’ upcoming fixtures, Bielsa replied: “I don’t know yet.
“But human aspects are always more important that the football aspects. In the majority of cases like the one you’re mentioning the players can combine both cases.”
Bielsa may have to look to Leeds’ Under-23 side should Jansson become unavailable, with Conor Shaughnessy, Aapo Halme, Pascal Struijk and Hugo Diaz the most likely candidates to replace the 27-year-old.
How would Leeds cope without Jansson?
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