Leeds United injury blow as defender forced off during international duty amid Euro 2024 concern

Leeds United captain Liam Cooper will be sweating on his fitness for this summer’s European Championships after picking up what looked to be a knee injury during Scotland’s 2-0 win over Gibraltar on Monday evening.

Scotland kicked off the first of their two June friendlies with a comfortable 2-0 win over UEFA minnows Gibraltar in the Algarve, with second-half goals from Ryan Christie and Southampton forward Che Adams. Cooper started on the bench before his introduction at half-time in place of Grant Hanley.

But after just half an hour of action, the 32-year-old came off worse from a nasty-looking collision and required medical attention on the floor. The Leeds man looked in serious discomfort before limping heavily off the pitch to be replaced by Scott McKenna.

A serious injury would be a major blow for Cooper’s chances of heading to Germany for Euro 2024, with Scotland’s first game in just over two weeks. Steve Clarke’s side face hosts Germany on Friday, June 14, and any fitness issues so close to kick-off could see Cooper ruled out for the tournament.

But speaking after the result, manager Steve Clarke was keen to allay fears of anything too serious. "Initial thoughts are it's just a knee to knee bang,” Clarke said. “He should be fine so fingers crossed on that one"

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Cooper is the second Leeds player to suffer fitness issues since heading off on international duty, with Glen Kamara pulling out of the Finland squad for their upcoming friendlies - albeit they will not be going to Euro 2024 anyway, having failed to qualify. Leeds loan pair Joe Rodon and Connor Roberts pulled out of international duty with Wales for upcoming friendlies with Gibraltar and Slovakia, although it is unclear as to why.

Dan James and Ethan Ampadu are in the Wales squad, with the latter expected to captain his nation for the first time in the absence of captain Aaron Ramsay and vice-captain Ben Davies. 17-year-old Charlie Crew is also in the squad for the upcoming friendlies.

Ilia Gruev joined up with the Bulgarian national team for friendlies against Romania and Slovenia. Neither Bulgaria nor Wales have a place in this summer’s European Championships and so the chance of a Leeds player being in Germany is shrinking.