Leeds United defender Liam Cooper could miss the rest of the season and is definitely ruled out of the Premier League game vs Manchester City on Saturday, according to Sam Allardyce.
What's the latest injury news on Cooper?
The Whites suffered a heavy 4-1 defeat to Bournemouth during their last top-flight outing but will be hoping to hit the ground running during the new manager's first game in charge when his side make the trip to the Etihad Stadium to take on Pep Guardiola's current league leaders this afternoon, but they will have to do so without the services of their 31-year-old captain.
The Scottish international limped out of the most recent fixture at the Vitality Stadium and was forced off the pitch after just 34 minutes with what is believed to have been a hip injury, and having a history of several spells on the sidelines, there are question marks about how long he will be out for on this particular occasion.
Speaking during his Friday pre-match press conference, Allardyce confirmed that Cooper and four other of his first-team squad members were ruled out of the highly anticipated showdown vs Man City. As quoted by Leeds Live, he said:
"I've only got [Stuart] Dallas, [Tyler] Adams, [Luis] Sinisterra and [Liam] Cooper injured. The rest around that will be picking a team and a system today."
Directly asked whether Cooper had played his final game of the 2022/23 season, the boss responded:
"I have no idea. There's no disrespect but I haven't really focused on that as I was told he wouldn't be fit for this game. So I've only been focused on the players who would be fit for this match."
Will Cooper's absence be a blow for Leeds?
Leeds will know that Cooper is their "leader" with the armband, as lauded by journalist Josh Bunting, and considering the authoritive qualities that he brings to not only the defence but the whole team, it will definitely be a massive blow for Allardyce if he was to not feature again for the remainder of the campaign.
The Elland Road centre-back, who currently pockets £25k-per-week, was averaging 3.2 aerial wins and clearances prior to his absence, via WhoScored, not to mention that he's won 22 tackles from 34 players challenged so far this season.
Cooper also led his side to top-flight promotion back in 2019/20 so knows what it means and feels like to have the honour of playing at the highest level, but with this drive and motivation missing from the squad, it will be an uphill battle for his troops trying to maintain that status that he worked so hard to achieve.
