Daniel Farke took a lucky catch from Leeds United 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 recovering from two core injuries, the 26-year-old was finally ready to return to the pack after his first full training session on Saturday.

James wouldn’t enter the fray until the 87th minute, but even in that small spell on the pitch, the winger caught the eye with his pace and trickery against Norwich’s tiresome legs. Farke believes James will be a big card to play in Thursday’s second leg, although the comeback happened sooner than expected.

“(James will be) very important,” he said. “With Daniel, it was a difficult situation because he only had one training session with us yesterday, a full training session.

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“He has been injured for three weeks and until the injury is fully healed, it will take a while. Every day is good for him right now.

“My thought was just to have him with us as a bit of a lucky charm, to be honest, because it’s a good feeling when you look to your left and think, ‘Oh, a player of Daniel James’ caliber is an option. On the bench.’ It’s always good for the mood, for the confidence, but when I look at me in the 85th minute, I have the feeling that maybe it’s a good idea to send him on the field.

“He was ready to go, he didn’t panic and I’m happy he got through without getting hurt again. For that, it was good for his confidence to get some minutes in the tank and every day helps.”

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

Piroe had scored in the last game against Southampton and Farke admitted the forward expected to start at Norwich because of that feat. The German praised him for putting aside his own personal motivations for the benefit of the team.

“Jaidon looked lively too and so did Joel,” he said. “He was there with a goal in the last game, he probably expected a little bit to start, not that easy, but they all put their individual thoughts aside and made a real difference to the whole team and I was pleased with all the substitutions my. “