Leeds United head coach Marcelo Bielsa has strongly defended his club’s medical team and their approach to Robin Koch’s injury on Sunday.Koch sustained a head injury after a collision with Manchester United midfielder Scott McTominay in the 12th minute of Leeds’ 4-2 defeat but was allowed to play on before then being unable to continue 20 minutes later.The incident, along with the Premier League’s rules on permanent concussion substitutions, were heavily criticised, with the PFA and Headway speaking out on Monday.Leeds later stated that Koch had passed the Premier League’s concussion protocols in order to continue playing, a stance which Bielsa doubled down on in a staunch defence on his staff.On Tuesday morning, he said: “During the time he continued to play, he acted perfectly. There was no indicator. I looked over the sequences and there was no reason to believe he had any limitation.“In the given moment, the player sits down, the doctors come on, and he indicates that he has symptoms that he didn’t have when the clash happened.“In that moment, as it couldn’t have been any other way since the symptoms were not there, we made the change. You know, or you should know, that the symptoms of this are 24 hours to appear.“So in the solution of the subject, we all did exactly what corresponded. We did nothing different from the protocol, everything according to the protocol.”Bielsa then addressed Leeds’ situation with regards to the Premier League’s rules on COVID-19.“If there’s something that the medical staff at Leeds have done, then I, as an extension of their decisions, is to abide strictly by the rules about COVID-19, any knocks to the head, or anything else.“If there’s any club that it’s at it impeccably with all regards to health, it’s Leeds.Leeds have had only one match postponed due to a COVID-19 outbreak, with Bielsa regularly utilising several members of his under-23 squad to supplement his first team over the busy festive period.(Photo: Getty Images)
