Daniel Farke took a Leeds United lucky charm with him to the Norwich City dugout

A lucky charm rather than a weapon to hurt Norwich City is how Daniel Farke saw Daniel James when he named him in Leeds United’s squad. After nearly three weeks of recuperating from two core injuries, the 26-year-old was finally ready to return to the fold after his first full training session on Saturday.

James would not enter the fray until the 87th minute, but even in that small spell on the field, the winger caught the eye with his pace and trickery against tiring Norwich legs. Farke feels James will be an important card to play in Thursday’s second leg, though the comeback has all happened rather quicker than he expected.

“[James will be] very important,” he said. “With Daniel, it was a tricky situation because he had just one training session with us yesterday, one full training session.

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“He was injured for three weeks and until the injury is really completely healed, it will last also a while. Each and every day is beneficial for him right now.

“My thought was just to have him a bit with us as a lucky charm, if I’m honest, because it's a good feeling if you look left to you and you think ‘Oh, a player the calibre of Daniel James is an option on the bench.’ It's always good for the mood, for the confidence, but when I watch next to me in the 85th minute, I got the feeling it's also perhaps a good idea to send him on the pitch.

“He was ready to go, he was not scared and I’m happy he went through without being reinjured. For that, it was good for his confidence to have a few minutes in the tank and each and every day helps.”

Jaidon Anthony and Joel Piroe were the other two substitutes Farke used at Carrow Road, though they had an extra 17 minutes on James. Like James, Anthony looked lively during his burst on the field.

Piroe had scored in the last match against Southampton and Farke conceded the striker may have been expecting to start in Norwich because of that feat. The German commended him for putting aside his own personal motivations for the benefit of the team.

“Also, Jaidon looked lively and also Joel,” he said. “He was there with a goal in the last game, perhaps expected a bit to start, not that easy, but they all put their individual thoughts away and put a real shift in for the whole team and I was happy with all my substitutions.”