Pontus Jansson is a major doubt for Leeds United’s upcoming fixtures against Millwall and Birmingham City after confirmation of his knee injury this morning.  

Leeds have been sweating on an update on Jansson over the weekend after the centre-back picked up a knee injury in Saturday lunchtime’s 1-0 defeat to Sheffield United.

And, now it has been confirmed by Leeds that Jansson is facing three weeks on the sidelines, meaning he’s a doubt for clashes with Millwall on March 30 and Birmingham on April 6.

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If Jansson misses those fixtures it is likely that we will see Gaetano Berardi recalled to the starting line-up at centre-back, with the Swiss defender now fit again after a serious hamstring injury.

With a route back into the starting line-up now clear, we take a look at three things that will be going through Berardi’s mind…

A chance to play a big part in the run-in

The Championship run-in is on the horizon, with Leeds having eight games to try and get over the line in the race for promotion.

Berardi is likely to play a part in the next two games and he can really stake a claim for his place back in the side.

He started the season ahead of Jansson and could finish it ahead of his teammate.

Millwall will be tough

Berardi is commanding in his own way, but very different to a player like Jansson.

His obvious height disadvantage means that Millwall might target him when Leeds face them.

That’s a little concerning and Berardi will be acknowledging the size of the task on the horizon.

Time to put injuries behind me

Ultimately, this is the time for Berardi to put his injury problems firmly behind him.

He’s missed a lot of football this season and had to watch his teammates fight for promotion.

Back in the starting XI, with promotion still in sight, Berardi can finally put a terrible couple of months in the closet.