Emmerdale‘s Sarah Sugden and Jacob Gallagher face some relationship hurdles next month.

The young villagers have been growing closer recently, but there’s trouble ahead when Jacob’s new friendships threaten to stand in their way.

Upcoming episodes see Jacob embark on work experience in A&E as part of his medical studies.

The high-pressure environment leaves Jacob feeling overwhelmed and stressed, as he starts to doubt his own abilities and whether he has what it takes.

Coming up in January, Jacob tries to hide his doubts as he socialises with his new medical student friends at The Woolpack.

Sarah heads over to join them, but she feels left out as she doesn’t fit into the conversations.

Things only get worse when Jacob’s friends realise that Sarah was admitted to A&E in a drunken state the week before.

The group gang up on Sarah, berating her for wasting valuable time and resources with her irresponsible behaviour. Jacob feels guilty as he watches the tensions unfold.

Later, Jacob apologises to Sarah for not supporting her more.

The pair seem to get back on track and they spend the night together, but will this be the start of something special or will they keep it as a one-off?

Emmerdale bosses have previously announced that Jacob’s time in A&E will take centre stage in a special standalone episode next week.

The single-story edition of Emmerdale will explore the pressures of working with cases of serious injury and other life-threatening emergencies.

Joe-Warren Plant, who plays Jacob, recently said: “When I met with our producer Sophie [Roper], she told me about this hour-long episode dedicated to Jacob’s first day of placement in A&E.

“I was hit with all these emotions. Knowing how many people have this high pressure job for real gave me the pressure to really knuckle down and get it right.

“Tackling this storyline scared me at first, but I feel honoured to know they trusted me enough to tell it. That means such a lot and I feel very honoured.”

Emmerdale airs Sarah and Jacob’s scenes on Wednesday, January 8 and Thursday, January 9 on ITV1 and ITVX.