Patrick Vieira has fresh injury concern less than a week before Crystal Palace host Leeds United
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Leeds are in the midst of a 16-day break from Premier League action, a quirk of the fixture list thrown up by Palace's FA Cup semi-final against Chelsea on Sunday, the day when Jesse Marsch's men were initially scheduled to face the Blues.
Palace were beaten 2-0 at Wembley thanks to goals from Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Mason Mount and ahead of their Wednesday night clash with Newcastle United, Vieira revealed a fresh injury concern for his skipper.
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Hide AdMilivojevic came off the bench in the cup tie with five minutes remaining to replace Kouyaté, but picked up another knock in what has been an injury-disrupted season.
"Our captain Luka will not be part of the group [against Newcastle] - he felt something in his hamstring so he won’t be part of the team," said the Frenchman.
Defensive midfielder Milivojevic missed the first three games of the Premier League season following the death of his father and has started just eight times in the top flight ever since due to niggles.
Defender Nathan Ferguson is also due to miss the Newcastle game. The 21-year-old missed the entire 2020/21 season with a serious knee issue and then sat out for another six months after rupturing his Achilles tendon in training last May. In January of this year a hamstring problem sidelined him again and he's yet to make his return having played just eight minutes of 2021/22 Premier League football.
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Hide AdVieira has however welcomed back Tyrick Mitchell and Michael Olise from calf and foot injuries respectively in the past week. Both featured against Chelsea and are available for selection against Newcastle.
Leeds make the trip to South London on Monday night hoping to secure a win that would all-but guarantee Premier League safety. Marsch's men are unbeaten in four, with 10 points accrued from those games thanks to vital wins over Norwich City, Wolves and Watford and a draw with Southampton.