Leeds defender Patrick Kisnorbo will have to prove his fitness if he is to land a new contract at Elland Road.

The Australian’s present deal runs out in the summer and although Kisnorbo is rated highly by United manager Simon Grayson, the club are understandably reluctant to offer a new deal at this stage to a player who has been out since snapping his Achilles tendon against Millwall last March.

No comeback date has been predicted for the 29-year-old former Leicester central defender and Grayson said: “Paddy is still not fit and he is going through a long recovery process. We still have no time scale on when he is going to be fit.

“When he was in the team he did really well for us but people don’t understand the severity of a snapped Achilles tendon.

“You probably think a broken leg will take longer than a snapped Achilles from a mental and physical point of view but a snapped Achilles takes a lot of healing and grafting back together.

“We want to keep Paddy but he has got to be fit before we even start negotiating a contract offer.

“We like to think we will be loyal to him when he gets back fit and that he will be loyal to us.

“I am not going to put any time scale on it because getting him back to fitness is a long process.”

Meanwhile, 21-year-old midfielder Adam Clayton – who moved from Manchester City to Leeds in August – has joined Peterborough on a month’s loan.