Leeds United head coach Marcelo Bielsa has confirmed that Robin Koch will miss Wednesday’s Premier League clash against Liverpool after suffering a concussion injury last weekend.
The 25-year-old defender clashed heads with Scott McTominay midway through the first half in Sunday’s 4-2 defeat against Manchester United, and was initially deemed fit to continue with his head wound bandaged.
However, Koch signalled that he felt dizzy just a few minutes later and had to be taken off, with Leeds since releasing a statement calling for temporary substitutions to be introduced by the Premier League.
Speaking to the press ahead of their trip to Anfield, Bielsa initially thought Koch was only suffering from a nasty cut before realising he developed concussion symptoms, but the Argentine insists that the club followed the necessary concussion protocols.
“I was convinced that it was just the bleeding from the cut because that was the first conclusion after the evaluation the player had. After when he manifested different symptoms he was substituted,” the Leeds boss said on Tuesday.
“The symptoms from a clash like this take 24 hours to appear, so in this solution we all did what corresponded. Everything within the protocol.”
Bielsa was also questioned on the availability of Leeds quartet Liam Cooper, Kalvin Phillips, Patrick Bamford and Leo Hjelde; however, the Argentine was unable to provide supporters with an injury update.
Both Phillips and Cooper have been suffering with hamstring injuries for nearly three months, while Bamford and Hjelde are recovering from respective foot and knee problems.
Leeds, who suffered a 3-0 home defeat to Liverpool earlier this season, will travel to Anfield having failed to win any of their last four league games, conceding 11 goals in the process.
