Leeds United handed Diego Llorente boost as defender returns to make light of Liam Cooper injury

Robin Koch has been ruled out for three months after knee surgery, and Llorente suffered the latest muscle injury of a disrupted start to the season at Stamford Bridge earlier this month.

So when Liam Cooper went off injured with an abdominal problem during Sunday's 6-2 defeat to Manchester United, it could have put the squad under real pressure. Llorente's return, though, makes life easier for a busy Festive period.

Leeds host Burnley on December 27, are at West Bromwich Albion on 29th, and Tottenham Hotspur on January 2.

Right-back Luke Ayling has been used as a makeshift central defender since Koch and Llorente's injuries. Centre-back Pascal Struijk came off the bench at Old Trafford initially to play as a holding midfielder, but dropped back into his more normal position after Cooper's injury.

Llorente missed the first 10 matches of Leeds's season with various muscle problems after joining from Real Sociedad in September. He played the full 90 minutes of his debut against Chelsea, but his movements were restricted by the end, and he has not featured since.

The abdominal injury is the third Cooper has suffered this season, although the previous two have been quite short-term. There is no recovery time on his latest issue.

Although Struijk started at Anfield on the opening weekend of the season, when Cooper was again injured, he was substituted in the first half at Aston Villa when on a yellow card and it appears he is finding it more difficult than some to win coach Marcelo Bielsa's trust.

Kalvin Phillips and Mateusz Klich, who were both withdraw at half-time at Old Trafford, have been booked four times this season and will receive one-match bans if they pick up another in the next five matches.

“The only advice possible is to be wary of picking up another caution, to just be cautious,” said Bielsa when asked what he would tell them in a press conference that was most notable for his impassioned and analytical defence of his team's style of play.

The Argentinian downplayed talk that Burnley's league position, two points and two places behind Leeds in 16th,or West Bromwich Albion's in the relegation zone. made the Festive games any more important.

“There's no easy games to win,” he insisted. “All points have value.”

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