Leeds United’s run-in plans have suffered a major blow with a knee injury to Kalvin Phillips likely ruling him out for the rest of the season.
The midfielder played the second half of Sunday’s win at Swansea City with heavy strapping on his left leg, but head coach Marcelo Bielsa was optimistic he would be fit for Thursday.
However, Bielsa has now confirmed, in his pre-Barnsley press conference, he will be without the 24-year-old for at least the next match and probably the following two too.
“Kalvin is not going to play in Thursday’s match,” he said. “We don’t know if he’s going to play the next two matches as well.”
Bielsa expects the worst-case scenario would put Phillips out for four to five weeks, meaning he would be okay for the start of next season, likely early September.
“He has a problem in the knee and probably is not going to be involved in the last three matches, but in the worst scenario it’s an injury we are going to resolve in four or five weeks,” he said.
In the past when Phillips has missed out, Bielsa has moved Ben White out of defence and forward with Gaetano Berardi coming into the backline.
Asked who Phillips’s replacement would be, Bielsa said: “I think Ben White.”
