Leeds United signed Eunan O’Kane from Bournemouth during the previous transfer window.
Garry Monk has told TV Yorkshire that he left Eunan O’Kane out of his Leeds United team to face Huddersfield Town, as the midfielder has not had long enough to adapt to life at Elland Road.
O’Kane was a late addition to Leeds’ squad in the summer transfer window, and his start to life at the Yorkshire club has been interrupted due to his international commitments.
The former Bournemouth man was named in the Republic of Ireland squad for their recent World Cup qualifying match, meaning he has only had one training session under Monk’s guidance at Leeds.
And Monk said that O’Kane’s lack of familiarity with his new teammates was the reason why he was omitted from his side’s match day squad yesterday.
“Eunan has only joined us for one day, he’s been on international duty,” Monk said. “To be fair to him we have to give him time to adapt to us, and for the players to adapt to him. But he’s going to be involved very, very soon.”
In O’Kane’s absence, Leeds put in a poor performance against Huddersfield and they were made to pay.
In a game of few chances, Aaron Mooy slammed home the only goal of the match from long range for the Terriers.
The defeat means that Leeds’ poor start to the Championship campaign continues, with Monk coming under more pressure.
Leeds are next in action on Tuesday evening against Blackburn Rovers, and O’Kane has a chance of featuring in the contest.
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