GARY Rowett said Jake Cooper is still only at “70, 75 per cent” after the defender made his first start of the season in the 2-1 win over Portsmouth on Tuesday evening.
Cooper missed the opening game against QPR but got through the full match as the Lions went into the second round of the EFL Cup.
Rowett had planned to take Cooper off but Callum Johnson’s sending-off changed that.
“It’s been a difficult one for him because it’s impinged his movement a little bit,” Rowett said. “I still think he’s probably at 70, 75 per cent.
“We toyed with giving him 45 or 60 minutes today. But I felt that when they went down to 10 men it wasn’t a particularly physical game for the centre-backs. We said we’d keep him on.
“There were a few moments late on when maybe that lack of game-time showed. But he’s a top player and he’ll be better for those minutes.
“Lenny [Ryan Leonard] the same, he’d been out injured for a long time, he’ll be better for the minutes.
“[Maikel] Kieftenbeld and George Saville, after the Covid situation, will also benefit for the minutes.
“I thought we got through the game quite well. I spoke to the players in there, when big Smudge [Matt Smith] comes on the pitch the game changes and we’ve got to adjust to that.
“We’ve got to try and get better balls in the box, hit better balls on angles, play forward a bit quicker and bypass their block instead of going backwards and sideways which we did a little bit second half.”
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