Sunday 19 April 2015 14:02, UK
Neil Redfearn described six players pulling out of the Leeds side on the eve of the clash with Charlton as a "freakish set of events".
The Yorkshire side lost 2-1 to Charlton at The Valley on Saturday with a Steve Morison opener being cancelled out by a Tony Watt equaliser before Yoni Buyens scored the winner from the penalty spot 10 minutes from time.
But events on the pitch - which also included a Billy Sharp penalty miss for the visitors - were overshadowed for Leeds by the absence of much of their foreign contingent in the two days leading up to the match in the capital.
Speaking afterwards Redfearn says he was surprised by the injuries to Italian quartet Mirco Antenucci, Giuseppe Bellusci, Dario del Fabro and Marco Silvestri, Frenchman Souleymane Doukara and Albanian Edgar Cani, especially with three of them dropping out during a 'light' training session on Friday.
"It seems a freakish set of events," said Redfearn. "Marco Silvestri got a knock after the Norwich game and we rested him thinking he would be available today but he came in on Friday and said he was still struggling so he couldn't travel.
"Antenucci and Cani declared themselves unfit after training Thursday and the other three boys came in and dropped out in training at various times through the session.
"It was only a light session Friday because we were planning towards the game but obviously two or three dropped down injured."
Leeds fans took to Twitter to question the injured players' loyalty after the news broke on Saturday but Redfearn said, at the moment, he had no reason to doubt the players.
"If the lads come in and say they're injured you've got to take them at face value," said the manager. "They're professional people and you expect them to do the right thing.
"If they're all injured then it's genuinely unlucky."
Charlton manager Guy Luzon praised goalscorer Buyens after the match. The midfielder netted his eighth penalty of the season in the final stages of the clash.
"It's not just the fact Yoni scored another penalty, he was the best player on the pitch today," said Luzon. "He was great in the first half and the second half, in both defence and offence.
"As for the penalty, I don't know if in this league we have a player who has scored eight in eight but maybe he will get even more in the last two games."
The manager also said he was delighted with the comeback after seeing his side net twice in the final 15 minutes to snatch the points.
"We had to change the rhythm and tempo after the first half," he said. "We had to play with more aggression. It's not the first time we've changed the result like this.
"It shows the good character of the players and the team. The last two weeks we've played five games and we've had to rotate a bit to keep players fresh. We need to continue this in our remaining games."
