Kyle Bartley defends Leeds teammate Pontus Jansson after he picked up fifth yellow card against Newcastle

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Jansson has been a huge favourite with the Leeds supporters, but will now sit out the club’s game with Rotherham.

Leeds manager Garry Monk talks to Pontus Jansson

Kyle Bartley has admitted that Pontus Jansson was perhaps slightly foolish to pick up his fifth yellow card of the season during Leeds United’s defeat to Newcastle at the weekend, but insisted that the Whites will cope without one of their main men in their next game, the Yorkshire Evening Post reports.

Jansson will now be suspended for Leeds’ trip to Rotherham this Saturday after he was booked for dissent following a penalty shout in the game against the Magpies (via Yorkshire Evening Post).

While the Sweden international is hugely popular with the Elland Road faithful, you could understand if Garry Monk was somewhat frustrated with the centre-back after his fourth yellow was perhaps also avoidable, as it came in their previous game as he celebrated with the fans following his goal against Norwich City.

But Bartley has suggested that the emotion is an aspect of the 25-year-old’s game that he should not look to change, even if it lands him in trouble, especially with Liam Cooper seemingly ready to step-in.

Blackburn’s Hope Akpan and Leeds’ Liam Cooper in action

“It was a little bit silly of him but he plays with a lot of emotion,” he said, as reported by the Yorkshire Evening Post. “I think we all know he wears his heart on his sleeve and you can’t take that away from him. It’s part of his game.

“People get suspended and that’s why we’ve got a squad. Coops has been fantastic and it’s unfortunate that he’s sitting on the bench at the moment. He’ll get a chance to prove how good he is and I’m sure he will.”

Jansson’s celebration against Norwich saw him cautioned

What will also frustrate Monk is the fact that all yellow cards will be wiped at the end of this month (via Daily Express), so Jansson just needed to stay out of trouble for the last few games to avoid a suspension.

However, as Bartley suggests, it could be argued that Jansson may not be the same player if he had to try and adopt an emotionless style, so the suspension was a sacrifice worth taking.