Leeds: Adam Pope shares positive injury news

Leeds United defenders Liam Cooper and Pascal Struijk could both return to the squad to face Chelsea next weekend, according to Adam Pope.
The Lowdown: Three points for Leeds
Javi Gracia made the perfect start to life at Elland Road on Saturday with a crucial 1-0 win over Premier League relegation rivals Southampton. Left-back Junior Firpo scored the only goal of the game to lift the Whites out of the bottom three.
The Whites’ new manager was without Cooper and Struijk for that game, but he could be able to call upon the pair at Stamford Bridge next Saturday.
The Latest: Leeds injury news on Struijk and Cooper
Pope took to Twitter shortly after the full-time whistle yesterday to share an update on the two defenders.
The Leeds reporter said that Struijk and Cooper weren’t ready for the Southampton game but ‘hopefully back for Chelsea as I understand’.
The Verdict: Good news for Leeds
The win over Southampton was Leeds’ first in the Premier League since November and just their second clean sheet of 2023, so Gracia may go with the same back four against the Blues.
However, knowing that Struijk – the Whites’ best-performing player this season according to WhoScored metrics – and their club captain could return to the squad is undoubtedly good news.
Gracia had just Rasmus Kristensen as an experienced defender on the bench against Southampton, so you’d expect that one of Struijk or Cooper – or even both – could return to the matchday squad for the trip to west London next Saturday.
