Leeds United put themselves top of the Championship with a 2-0 win at home to Birmingham City.
Thomas Christiansen has told BBC Radio Leeds that he expects Liam Cooper to be fit for Leeds’ trip to Millwall this weekend, while Kemar Roofe was simply left out of the starting lineup against Birmingham to give him a rest.
The Whites went into Tuesday’s clash at Elland Road knowing that a win would send them to the top of the Championship if Cardiff City lost.
And with Christiansen’s men winning 2-0, while the Bluebirds lost away at Preston North End, Leeds hit the summit. But not everything seemed to go to plan on a difficult night for the Whites.
Cooper then had to be taken off with little over 20 minutes to go – and with no recognised centre-back on the bench, supporters may have felt concerned that the 26-year-old’s problem must have been serious for him to come off.
But Christiansen issued a fairly emphatic response when asked if Cooper will be ready for the trip to Millwall this Saturday.
“No, I think he will be OK for the weekend,” he told BBC Radio Leeds.
The Birmingham clash also saw Roofe left on the bench to begin with, despite the forward putting in a brilliant performance in the weekend win over Burton Albion – scoring one and contributing an assist in the 5-0 victory.
But Christiansen suggested that he wanted to give the former Oxford man the chance to have a bit of a rest against the Blues.
“Today there was also a situation with Roofe. He came from playing a lot and I wanted to also give him some rest. When he came in in the second-half, he also helped the team like Berra and Stuart [who also came on],” he added.
It is arguably a sign of how well Leeds are doing that a player who scored one and set up another in a weekend win is able to be rested for the next game, despite – as his second-half introduction proves – clearly being fit enough to feature.
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