Phil Hay shares why Illan Meslier missed Leeds United clash v Cardiff City in FA Cup
Illan Meslier missed Leeds United's FA Cup clash with Cardiff with a muscle injury, while Marc Roca and Jack Harrison failed fitness tests according to Phil Hay.
The Whites made seven changes to their starting lineup ahead of the clash with Championsship side Cardiff, as they progressed to the fourth round with a comfortable win in Wales.
But The Athletic journalist Hay revealed why some first-team players were absent in a tweet on his personal account (8 January) before the game.
"Meslier missing with a minor muscle injury," he wrote.
Liam Cooper was also missing with a muscle problem, according to BBC journalist Adam Pope.
Piling up
It's been a horror season so far when it comes to injuries for Leeds, with a constant piling up of players with some sort of fitness issues.
Marsch's admission that the starting lineup wouldn't have changed too much had it been a league game should be pretty worrying too, because it means that these weren't precautionary absences.
Meslier in particular would be a huge blow to be out in coming fixtures if that ends up being the case, while Cooper's experience is a big void to fill.
As for Harrison, this would have been a good time to get him some minutes after being out of the team recently and finding himself behind Crysencio Summerville and Willy Gnonto.
The hope will be that everyone can recover fully before the clash with Aston Villa on Friday night (13 January) as they look to continue to move away from the relegation zone.