Leicester City Manager Cooper explains decision to omit Fatawu from squad

According to Steve Cooper, the focus should be shifted away from Abdul Fatawu's omission.

The two wide men have not been playing together much this term, while they were both first choice last season.

“That question could be for anybody who doesn’t start,” Cooper said last week, prior to the Foxes’ win over Bournemouth. 

“We have a squad. Everybody’s working hard. We have a team that will start and players that will finish.

“Three or four games ago, it was Stephy. Now it’s Abdul. It could be Kasey (McAteer). It’s a normal question to ask, I understand that. But the question should really be about Stephy and not Abdul. Next week will be somebody else.

“What I do know is that we have a group that are really working hard in training, fighting for the shirt. Some guys deserve more opportunities than they’ve been given but we’ve got the numbers that we’ve got.

“We’re trying to manage all that in a positive way. The guys are doing that, they’re putting the team first. We will continue with that regardless of anything else.

“Abdul’s a really good young player, really exciting, a good attitude, a nice kid, and he’s got a really bright future in front of him. Getting to the player he wants and will become, there will be spells like he had last year in the Championship where he did really well, and he’s also going to have spells where he needs to come through. It’s normal.”