Kalvin Phillips and Liam Cooper unavailable for Leeds United until March due to injuries
Kalvin Phillips and Liam Cooper have not played for Leeds since the 2-2 draw against Brentford on December 5 because of hamstring problems;
Friday 31 December 2021 10:46, UK
Leeds United pair Kalvin Phillips and Liam Cooper will be sidelined until March due to their respective hamstring injuries.
Centre-back Cooper picked up his hamstring problem in the early stages of Leeds' 2-2 draw with Brentford on December 5, while Phillips was replaced by Mateusz Klich 10 minutes into the second half of the game.
Head coach Marcelo Bielsa said: "We've been recovering players, even if Phillips and Cooper will return in March.
"Even if [Jamie] Shackleton comes back at the end of January, start of February, the amount of players we have will be increasing. We will see where we are in January if an alternative comes up that we take advantage of."
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Later asked if Cooper and Phillips returning in March was a worst-case scenario, Bielsa insisted: "No, that is what we expect."
The pair are among many Leeds players out injured with Jamie Shackleton, Charlie Cresswell, Rodrigo Moreno and Pascal Struijk also currently sidelined.
Junior Firpo, Diego Llorente, Robin Koch and Dan James are available for Sunday's match against Burnley at Elland Road.
"For the following game, we recover Junior, James, Diego Llorente. Koch had already returned and (Jack) Harrison also, who basically in the last game didn't play because he picked up an injury as soon as the game started but he has also recovered," Bielsa said.
Patrick Bamford was another to suffer an issue during that costly 2-2 draw with Brentford but he is fit again. However, Bielsa is cautious about using last season's top goalscorer this weekend, given his previous return was short-lived.
He added: "This is the fourth week since Patrick's injury. Patrick is healthy but he hasn't played for four weeks now and it puts in doubt the convenience of him playing without having done any football training sessions."
With Leeds' injury and Covid-19 problems clearing up, Bielsa has no doubts about the clash with Burnley going ahead.
Leeds' form in the Premier League has suffered due to multiple injuries to key players. They shipped 14 goals in their last three games against Chelsea, Manchester City and Arsenal and are five points above the relegation places.
Their games against Liverpool on Boxing Day and Aston Villa on December 28 were both postponed due to injuries and coronavirus cases within Bielsa's squad.
