Huge boost: Adam Pope drops big 12-word Leeds update, Marsch will be buzzing - opinion

Adam Pope has dropped a promising injury update on Leeds United central midfielder Adam Forshaw.

In a recent post on Twitter, the BBC journalist revealed that the 30-year-old was left out of Jesse Marsch’s matchday squad for the 3-0 win over Watford on Saturday due to a slight issue with his calf, before stating that the midfielder should be in line for a return to first-team football for the trip to Crystal Palace on April 25.

In his post, Pope said: “Forshaw has a slight calf issue but will be fine for Palace.”

Considering how impressive Forshaw has been for Leeds in recent weeks, in addition to the fact that Kalvin Phillips is still working his way back up to full fitness and both Robin Koch and Mateusz Klich having been extremely poor in the middle of the park against Watford, the news that Forshaw will not be out for any real length of time is sure to have left Marsch buzzing.

Indeed, over his last three league outings, the £1.8m-rated Forshaw had highly impressed for the Whites, averaging a SofaScore match rating of 7.1 in the 2-1 win over Norwich City, 7.0 in the 3-2 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers and 7.2 in the 1-1 draw with Southampton.

In comparison, despite the crucial 3-0 win over Watford this weekend, Koch and Klich were both found wanting in central midfield, being beaten a total of 11 times by opposition players, losing 24 of their 34 duels, ceding possession of the ball 39 times and completing just 49 of their 81 passes – a success rate of 60.5%.

These returns saw Koch earn a SofaScore match rating of 6.1 and Klich a rating of 6.0, ranking the duo as Leeds’ second-worst and worst player to feature in the match.

As such, it is clear for all to see that the return of Forshaw will come as a huge boost to