Leeds United: Liam Cooper pulls out stops to net training green light

LEEDS UNITED have received a huge boost on the injury front with club captain Liam Cooper back in training 18 days after being ruled out for up to six weeks with a knee problem.
Liam Cooper.Liam Cooper.
Liam Cooper.

Cooper collapsed to the ground off the ball in the 1-0 win at Sheffield United on December 1 with the 27-year-old injuring his knee and punching the Bramall Lane turf in frustration.

The centre-back hobbled off slowly to be replaced by Aapo Halme with the Whites’ skipper injured at a time when fellow defenders Luke Ayling and Gaetano Berardi were also sidelined. Cooper subsequently saw specialists and underwent a scan.

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Leeds then revealed that the centre-back had travelled to Rome for surgery to meet world-renowned knee surgeon professor Moriani with United looking for the best way to get their captain returned to fitness in the quickest possible time.

Cooper took to social media on December 5 to hail a “successful op” to an injury that “could have been a lot worse” and Leeds released a short video of the defender training at Thorp Arch this afternoon, accompanied by the words “back in training”.

Cooper’s swift return comes on the back of another speedy recovery made by £7m striker Patrick Bamford who injured his posterior cruciate ligament playing for United’s under-23s on September 11.

Leeds believed Bamford would be looking at four months on the sidelines but the striker returned to action nearly one month early when coming on as a 61st-minute substitute in Saturday’s 1-0 win at Bolton Wanderers in which Bamford scored the winning goal just five minutes after his introduction.

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Whites right-back Ayling is already back running with the defender expected to be back in training this week after injuring knee ligaments against Nottingham Forest in the 1-1 draw at home on October 27.

Liam Cooper goes off with an injury during the match against Sheffield United.Liam Cooper goes off with an injury during the match against Sheffield United.
Liam Cooper goes off with an injury during the match against Sheffield United.

Whites head coach Marcelo Bielsa has already revealed that he expects both Ayling and Tom Pearce, who has been sidelined with a foot injury, to be back this month.

Bielsa anticipated that Cooper would return in January though the defender looks to be on schedule for a return sooner than first thought. Berardi and Stuart Dallas remain sidelined with respective hamstring and foot injuries with Bearadi rupturing his hamstring in the 2-0 win at home to Ipswich Town on October 24.

The full-back spent the following week seeing consultants in the UK and Italy but elected not to choose surgical treatment with Berardi expected back four months after his injury.

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Dallas, meanwhile, fractured his foot in the 1-0 win at Sheffield United with the Northern Ireland international expected to be sidelined for between four and six weeks from that date.

Izzy Brown, already on the comeback trail from tearing his ACL last January, became injured playing for United’s under-23s on Monday but the Chelsea loanee has only suffered a tight hamstring.