Leeds United headlines as ex-Whites midfielder Lee Sharpe stresses patience with Georginio Rutter

Here are your Leeds United morning headlines on Sunday, 5 February.

Former Leeds United winger Lee Sharpe urges patience with Georginio Rutter expectations

Ex-Leeds United midfielder Lee Sharpe believes Whites forward Georginio Rutter will need time to adapt to the rigours of the Premier League following his January transfer window move.

The Whites smashed their transfer record to land the promising young striker, signing him from Hoffenheim for £36m on a five-and-a-half year deal.

The 20-year-old has already made his Leeds debut, featuring in the FA Cup, but could be set for a huge role in the second half of the Whites Premier League campaign following an ankle injury picked up by Rodrigo.

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Rodrigo’s injury will keep him sidelined for two months meaning Leeds have just two fit strikers in Rutter and Patrick Bamford.

However, Sharpe reckons despite his whopping transfer fee, Leeds need to remain patient with Rutter while he adapts to life in England.

“Do you put Rutter in and hope that he hits the ground running,” Sharpe told 888sport.

“There’s a sense of excitement and freedom because he doesn’t really come with the pressure of relegation on his shoulders. He can just come in and flow. Or does he need time to adjust to a new country, the language, the housing situation, and all the rest of it?

“It’s head or tails how it goes and you hope for Leeds, for the fans and the club, that he comes in and starts scoring goals and gets them up the table. Then again, you can’t expect too much of him and you have to give him time to adjust to the lifestyle and the league.”

Steve Cooper on ‘frustrating’ Jesse Lingard injury ahead of Leeds United clash at Nottingham Forest

Nottingham Forest boss Steve Cooper says he’ll make a late call on Jesse Lingard’s fitness ahead of Leeds United’s trip to the City Ground.

The former Manchester United midfielder picked up a knock in the warm-up in their Carabao Cup semi-final second-leg at old Trafford.

A win for Forest this weekend would see them move six points clear of Jesse Marsch’s side, but they will be without a number of key players for the clash at the City Ground.

Morgan Gibbs-White (ankle), Dean Henderson (thigh), Taiwo Awoniyi (groin), Cheikhou Kouyate (hamstring) and Moussa Niakhate (hamstring) will all be absent for this weekend.

“It’s frustrating for Jesse,” said Cooper.

“We’re still in the stage of assessing. It’s not even been 48 hours since it happened, so it’s too soon to say.”

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Casemiro hands Leeds United unexpected boost ahead of Manchester United clash

Manchester United will be without Casemiro for both of their upcoming games against Leeds United, after the Brazilian international was sent off against Crystal Palace.

Leeds will travel to Old Trafford on Wednesday evening, before hosting the Red Devils at Elland Road next Sunday.

Casemiro was shown a straight red card after grabbing Crystal Palace midfielder Will Hughes by the neck.

The former Real Madrid midfielder will now serve a three-match ban, which will see him miss both games against Leeds home and away, as well as their home clash against Leicester City.

Read the full story here

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