Leeds United head coach Jesse Marsch believes Liam Cooper will be fit to play against Chelsea on Wednesday night. Cooper has missed the last two matches after pulling out in the warmup of the Manchester City game 10 days ago.
The Leeds captain was in contention for the trip to Arsenal on Sunday, however Jesse Marsch opted against risking him. Cooper, though, has taken part in more training earlier this week, with the pain in his knee having eased, meaning he is set to be available tomorrow night.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Marsch said: “Liam Cooper last time I said he would be ready, trained day before and had small reaction leading to the match and we felt it was prudent he does not push himself with the possibility we could lose him. I believe, he trained a bit yesterday, after that and now into this next phase he is better. I believe he will be available. Day by day.”
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Leeds will be buoyed by Cooper’s return at such a crucial stage of the season, with the Whites now sat in the bottom three for the first time since October. With Burnley not in action until Sunday, Leeds can move out of the relegation zone if they avoid defeat.
They will also be looking to keep the pressure on Everton, who are in action on the same night as Leeds. The Toffees make the trip to already relegated Watford and know that a win will put them to within touching distance of safety as they still have a game in hand.
Marsch, though, will have to wait a little longer for the return of key striker Patrick Bamford. He is hopeful that he will return to ‘team training’ later in the week after taking part in some individual work over the last few days.
He said: “Bamford individual work on the grass, hopefully team work by the end of the week. Monitoring and on track. See what that means moving forward. Rest is all the same.”
