Liam Cooper set to miss Leeds United's Easter Monday clash with Brentford

Marcelo Bielsa said he did not expect to have Cooper available at Griffin Park as Leeds attempted to raise themselves from a crushing 2-1 loss to Wigan Athletic.

Cooper sat in the stands looking on as 10-man Wigan won away from home for only the second time this season, and the first since August, to inflict a huge blow on Leeds’ chances of finishing inside the Championship’s top two.

The centre-back was hurt in the warm-up before United’s 1-0 victory over Sheffield Wednesday a week ago and failed to recover in time to make Bielsa’s line-up against Wigan.

Leeds have just 72 hours to prepare for their journey to London and asked if Cooper would be fit, Bielsa said: “I don’t think so.”

Gaetano Berardi stepped in for Cooper against Wednesday and played again at home to Wigan, his first competitive starts since tearing a hamstring six months ago.

United’s defence were troubled by the physicality of Leon Clarke and the pace of Gavin Massey, whose two goals saw Wigan fight back from 1-0 down to leave Leeds outside the automatic promotion places.