The Leeds United centre-back is set to miss a crucial part of his side’s campaign through suspension.
Leeds manager Garry Monk
Whites boss Garry Monk spoke to reporters in the aftermath of his side’s disappointing 2-0 defeat at Brentford last night, and explained the club’s stance on Liam Cooper’s disciplinary hearing, following his alleged stamp on Reece Oxford at the weekend, as quoted by the Yorkshire Evening Post.
The 25-year-old defender has been hit with a six-match ban, which will rule him out of some vitally important games for Leeds, including their trip to St James’ Park to take on Newcastle United on Good Friday.
And Monk explained to reporters the reason why the club have chosen to publicly support Cooper, despite pleading guilty to the charge of reckless play, as quoted by the Yorkshire Evening Post:
Leeds’ Liam Cooper
“We spoke to Liam and as a club we supported him. We pleaded guilty to a reckless charge but 100 per cent we didn’t plead guilty to an intent charge. We know Liam very well and as a person he’s not like that. One hundred per cent he didn’t intend to stamp on the player but because of the recklessness of it, we decided to plead guilty.”
The West Yorkshire outfit have suffered back-to-back defeats in the Championship, and now find themselves only five points clear of seventh placed Fulham.
They will need to respond immediately if they are to allay fears of dropping outside the play-off spots.
And a win at home to Preston North-End on Saturday would provide the ideal platform from which to finish their season in fine spirits, as they head into the lottery that is the play-offs.
Leeds United manager Garry Monk
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