Ricardo Pereira Sidelined for Approximately Four Months Due to Hamstring Injury, Cooper Confirms

The disappointment for Leicester following their 3-0 defeat against Manchester United on Sunday was intensified by the announcement that right-back Ricardo Pereira will be unavailable for “about four months” due to a hamstring issue. Pereira had not participated in the match at Old Trafford, having been substituted late in the 1-1 draw against Ipswich the previous week. Following the match, Cooper stated, “It’s bad news – Ricky will be out for about four months with a serious hamstring injury.” He added, “It’s a real blow for everybody, and especially him. We’ll all be with him now in his recovery.” Despite creating opportunities during their defeat to the Red Devils, with five shots on target compared to their opponents’ three, Leicester was unable to score past Andre Onana, United’s goalkeeper. Cooper further commented, “There’s nothing good about a 3-0 defeat, and we’ve not done enough to stop their goals.” He continued, “We got into more than enough positions to threaten United’s box, but as a team we didn’t show enough.” Cooper also remarked, “In large parts the game seemed even, but in certain moments we’ve not done enough at both ends of the pitch. We’re not going to hide away from the chances and goals we’re conceding, and we’ll keep showing intent to improve that.” He concluded his assessment by saying, “We know we have creativity and threat in the team, but didn’t maximise that.” Cooper speculated, “Whether it was a mixture of United being really ruthless stopping us, whether we could’ve made better decisions or shown more quality – it could be all of those things.”