As well as Firpo: Leeds journalist says Marsch may now be without 'crucial' defender vs Wolves

Leeds United defender Liam Cooper looks set to be unavailable once again for the trip to Wolves on Friday evening, LeedsLive report.  

The Whites captain has been missing since December due to a hamstring injury but made a return to full training at the beginning of the month.

Labelled as ‘crucial’ by Jack Collins, Cooper is yet to return to the matchday squad, with Jesse Marsch getting his first win as manager on Sunday against Norwich City.

Marsch is now preparing his side for a trip to Molineux, but it looks as if Cooper, who experts thought could have returned to action already, will be missing again prior to the international break.

LeedsLive journalist Danny Bloomer shared the club’s injury list in full on Monday evening, looking at return dates for all those sidelined.

When it came to Cooper, the reporter said that the centre-back is now ‘very close’ to a return but has a potential comeback down as April 2 when the Whites host Southampton.

Cooper has been the club’s second-best performer this season behind Raphinha, as per WhoScored, so his absence has been a miss with Leeds leaking goals since the turn of the year.

However, the good news for Marsch is that Diego Llorente returned to the starting XI at the weekend and appeared to come through unscathed, meaning Marsch will have the Spaniard, Robin Koch and Pascal Struijk to choose from against Bruno Lage’s side, though he looks set to be without left-back Junior Firpo.

Another positive display could help Leeds pull clear of the bottom three ahead of the weekend, and after the international break, Marsch looks like he’ll be able to call upon Cooper and Kalvin Phillips in the final eight games of the season.

In other news: Leeds forward has now suffered recurrence