Pascal Struijk will miss Leeds United's next three fixtures after the club discovered on Wednesday morning that their appeal over the defender's red card against Liverpool has been rejected.
Struijk was sent off following a challenge on Harvey Elliot which saw the teenage midfielder dislocate his ankle, but many felt the red card was given for the severity of the injury, rather than the actual challenge itself.
Elliott himself shared his thoughts on the appeal in a comment under a Sky Sports Instagram post following the unsuccessful result.
"Sorry about this Pascal," wrote Elliott, adding a looking down emoji.
"I think it's wrong!
"But it'll soon blow over brother and you'll be back in no time and smashing it again."
Elliott's comments show remarkable maturity for a player so young and are a reminder that Struijk will also have to recover from the incident as well as the Liverpool midfielder, who faces surgery.
The teenager looked set to play a starring role for Liverpool this season and Leeds' young defender has to carry the weight on his shoulders that his tackle - though unintentional - cause a serious injury which will curtail a fellow young professional's season. Elliott's words show that he recognises this and wants to encourage Struijk to keep progressing, despite the terrible incident.
Leeds will now be without Struijk for matches against Newcastle United and West Ham united in the Premier League and Fulham in the Carabao Cup and face somewhat of a centre back crisis, due to injuries to Robin Koch and Diego Llorente.
