Leeds United pair Kalvin Phillips and Liam Cooper will be sidelined until March due to their respective hamstring injuries.
Centre-back Cooper picked up his hamstring problem in the early stages of Leeds’ 2-2 draw with Brentford on December 5, while Phillips was replaced by Mateusz Klich 10 minutes into the second half of the game.
Head coach Marcelo Bielsa said: “We’ve been recovering players, even if Phillips and Cooper will return in March.
“Even if [Jamie] Shackleton comes back at the end of January, start of February, the amount of players we have will be increasing. We will see where we are in January if an alternative comes up that we take advantage of.”
Later asked if Cooper and Phillips returning in March was a worst-case scenario, Bielsa insisted: “No, that is what we expect.”
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The pair are among many Leeds players out injured with Patrick Bamford, Jamie Shackleton, Charlie Cresswell, Rodrigo Moreno and Pascal Struijk also currently sidelined.
Junior Firpo, Diego Llorente, Robin Koch and Dan James are available for Sunday’s match against Burnley at Elland Road.
Leeds’ form in the Premier League has suffered due to multiple injuries to key players. They shipped 14 goals in their last three games against Chelsea, Manchester City and Arsenal and are five points above the relegation places.
Their games against Liverpool on Boxing Day and Aston Villa on December 28 were both postponed due to injuries and coronavirus cases within Bielsa’s squad.