Two Leeds United players pull out of international duty, former Whites defender on Raúl Jiménez dismissal

Former Whites defender on Raúl Jiménez dismissal

Former Leeds United defender Tony Dorigo believes that Raúl Jiménez was unlucky to be dismissed during the Whites' 3-2 victory over Wolves on Friday.

The Mexican was shown an initial yellow in the first half for a foul on Robin Koch before colliding with United 'keeper Illan Meslier shortly after the interval.

Meslier beat Jiménez to the ball but the Frenchman took a substantial hit from the rushing attacker and departed the field with a hip contusion shortly after.

Jiménez, meanwhile, was shown a second yellow for the challenge and Dorigo has sympathy for the forward.

"I actually thought Raul Jimenez was unlucky," Dorigo writes.

"He’s such a willing runner - if he’s on your team you see him as a player who works incredibly hard for the team.

"His first booking was fair enough and I get that he didn’t get a touch on the ball when he collided with Illan Meslier, but he didn’t mean it. They were both genuinely going for the ball.

"Maybe he could have pulled out but it was still unfortunate for him and for Wolves."

Read Tony Dorigo's latest column in full here.

Robin Koch pulls out of international duties

Robin Koch will not be playing for Germany this international break after testing positive for coronavirus.

The German national team tweeted yesterday that the Whites defender did not travel Hansi Flick's squad after receiving a positive rapid antigen test result.

The missed opportunity is a blow for the 25-year-old, who could not participate in November's World Cup qualifiers as he was recovering from surgery.

Read the full story here.

Lewis Bate pulls out of Young Lions squad

Lewis Bate will not play for England Under 20s this international break.

The teenager impressed for the Young Lions in October, scoring the side's only goal in a 1-1 draw with Italy.

Bate was due to join up with Andy Edwards' squad again for games against Poland and Germany later this month, but has withdrawn after picking up a knock during the Whites Under 23s 3-0 win over Manchester United last week.

Read the full story here.

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