Pundits and regular Championship followers are running out of superlatives for Leeds United star Ao Tanaka. The Japan international has been one of the standout players in the division this season.

Leeds United boss Daniel Farke has insisted that he is a big fan of Junior Firpo, who he believes has repaid his faith on the pitch, both defensively and in an attacking sense. The 28-year-old has been one of the mainstays of the Leeds defence this season, having featured in 13 of the 17 Championship games the Whites have played so far.

It may be United’s third game in six days, but the sight of a 7,000-plus travelling contingent packing out the Darwen End, as Leeds invariably do in that part of Lancashire, should provide a team talk in its own way at a venue where the Yorkshire outfit have enjoyed themselves in the past in winter time.