Leeds United beat Cambridge United 2-1 to progress to the next round of the FA Cup.
Leeds United boss Garry Monk has told BT Sport, during their live FA Cup coverage which was broadcast on 9th January, that he planned to take Pontus Jansson off after an hour of their FA Cup match against Cambridge United last night.
Jansson was selected to start in the fixture against the League Two side, but Monk didn’t want to risk playing the Swede for 90 minutes.
However, after an injury to Liam Cooper, Jansson was forced to play the full match – and he disappointingly picked up a booking.
“The plan was to get him to 60 minutes and then make a change,” Monk admitted. “We have three established centre-backs with Coops. I thought it was an extremely harsh yellow card.”
There were some questions asked by Leeds fans as to why Jansson was selected to start.
Many of Leeds’ most important players were rested, but Jansson was kept in the starting line-up – even though he was one booking short of a two-game suspension.
It was put to Monk that he only played Jansson because he wanted the 25-year-old to reach 22 appearances, which will enable Leeds to make his loan move from Torino permanent for a set fee.
However, Monk denied these claims, insisting that Jansson started because he wanted to win the tie.
“No, his job is to play football,” Monk said. “The player’s job is not to focus on their contract, it’s to play football.”
Leeds options look short at centre-back, heading into their match with Derby County at the weekend.
Jansson is suspended, but there is still some hope that Cooper could play in the clash.
“We’re hoping it [Cooper’s injury] is just a knock,” Monk added. “It’s a kick on the knee. We’re hoping that Coops will be able to recover quickly.”
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