Rodon, Greenwood and Ayling – Leeds United loan players available ahead of Norwich semi-final

The countdown to Leeds United’s play-off campaign is drawing ever closer as they continue their preparations for their semi-final clash with Norwich City.

The Whites travel to Carrow Road on Sunday lunchtime, hoping to set one foot in the final at Wembley in the first leg, before returning to Elland Road. Daniel Farke’s side have already won in East Anglia this season and haven’t lost away to the Canaries since April 2018.

Leeds are expected to welcome both Patrick Bamford and Daniel James back for this weekend’s game. But can United further strengthen their squad for the tie with loan players from LS11?

The short answer is no. The Yorkshire club currently have 10 players plying their trade away from club football in Europe and in the Football League.

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Jack Harrison, Maximillian Wober, Brendan Aaaronson, Rasmus Kristensen, Marc Roca and Diego Llorente are just a few of the names whose seasons have yet to end this term. Sam Greenwood, Luke Ayling, Cody Drameh and Ian Poveda’s Championship spells at Middlesbrough, Birmingham City and Sheffield Wednesday respectively came to an end after last weekend’s final day and they will now return to Elland Road.

However, the four players will not be able to compete in the latter part of Leeds’ season. A change to the loan regulations in the 2017/18 season ended the loan of players until certain dates and introduced a new system whereby loans were extended until the start of the next player registration window.

The EFL Player Registration Regulations state: “A player whose standard loan expires (or is terminated) at the end of the transferred club’s season but before the completion of the league matches of his transfer club (where he is a member club) will be ineligible for to play in any remaining League matches for the Transferring Club that season. Examples where this may apply are (a) different season endings for different divisions or (b) a player entering a loan and his ‘parent club’ has qualified for the play-off competitions.”

So while Ayling, Greenwood, Drameh and Poveda’s seasons are over, they will only be able to watch the action unfold from the stands. But, it’s a different situation for quarterback Joe Rodon.

The Wales international arrived from Tottenham Hotspur on a season-long loan at the start of the campaign. With Leeds’ tenure not yet up, the 26-year-old is still eligible for the Whites ahead of their trip to Norwich, hoping to add to the 18 clean sheets he has kept during the league season.