Medical expert predicts Liam Cooper return date after ‘big’ news from Leeds
Liam Cooper could return to action for Leeds United in early March.
That is the view of injury expert Ben Dinnery, who runs the Premier Injuries site and has a background in medicine and data analysis.
Leeds skipper Cooper has not featured since the beginning of December after picking up a serious hamstring injury.
The 30-year-old centre-back has gone under the knife to ensure a full recovery.
As quoted by The Athletic last Monday (7 February), Marcelo Bielsa revealed Cooper is “in the final stages of recovery from [his] operation.”
Dinnery suggested that the defender could return to competitive action at the beginning of next month
“We know Bielsa is a stickler for making sure his players are on it,” he told Football Insider‘s Adam Williams.
“You will typically see players transition from working with the physios to the sports science department and then first-team training.
“We are expecting a return to play in early March. That gives us a fairly good indication of where those players are.
“So it could be that the player is with the first-team squad for a couple of weeks before they are thrown back into the first-team limelight.
“This is a big step forward. I would expect more big strides within the next seven to 10 days and coming into consideration for the development side.”
Cooper has registered one assist in his 16 outings this term.
He did not miss a minute of league action before he was ruled out in early December.
In other news, pundit suggests Leeds United could be “haunted” by “bizarre” Bielsa decision.