Injury News

Phil Hay: Leeds United sweating over fitness of strong Monday-night performer

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Image for Phil Hay: Leeds United sweating over fitness of strong Monday-night performer

Leeds United’s injury concerns at the back appear to be piling up thanks to Liam Cooper and Diego Llorente’s setbacks, but now Pascal Struijk appears to be struggling too.

Back in the Championship, Leeds were able to rely on the consistency of Liam Cooper as they pressed onto the league title, featuring in most games as he helped the Whites into boasting the best defence in the division.

However, his injury problems have resurfaced already in the Premier League as he’s now missed two out of the first five games with niggling injuries sustained on international duty.

Having come back from the latest run of Scotland games with an injury, Leeds were facing a race to get Liam Cooper fit for the clash against Wolves on Monday night, but he was hauled from the starting lineup late into the warmup.

Cooper was replaced by Pascal Struijk in the starting 11 and it was a stellar performance from the young Dutch defender alongside Robin Koch.

Struijk was only called upon because Diego Llorente suffered a setback of his own away with the Spain squad, and he showed his capability to go toe-to-toe with one of the league’s top strikers in Raul Jimenez.

However, as Leeds were chasing the game, Striujk was brought off for Pablo Hernandez in an interesting reshuffle, suggesting that the centre-back was carrying an injury from the game.

During the Wolves goal, Struijk slipped and let Jimenez pick up the ball with a lot to do in the Leeds half, but it seemed to have done some damage to the Leeds number 21 as he was brought off shortly after the goal.

The Athletic have now reported that, after the lengthy injury layoff to Kalvin Phillips, Leeds are sweating on the fitness of Struijk ahead of a quick turnaround for the next league fixture against Aston Villa on Friday night.

With such a short space between games, it might be unlikely to see Struijk regain fitness for Leeds’ trip to in-form Villa.

It’s not an ideal piece of news to be given after a disappointing defeat, and on top of the other injuries we’ve already had to contend with.

Cooper might struggle to be fit for the Villa game and you’d be surprised if Llorente is back so soon, so it might be a case of youngsters Ollie Casey and Charlie Cresswell getting handed a Premier League debut.

Either those two are handed a start, or a major reshuffle at the back is needed to ensure there’s more experience for the trip to Villa Park.

It’s hard to call exactly how we’re going to set up with our defensive depth being stretched to the limit already but I’m sure Bielsa will have a system in mind that he has the utmost confidence in.

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Leeds United season ticket holder since 2013/14, currently situated in the middle of the FA5 noise. From Pablo Hernandez to 5-1 drubbings, I've seen it all at Elland Road.