Championship

O’Kane frustrated with Monk over Leeds role

|
Image for O’Kane frustrated with Monk over Leeds role

Leeds United midfielder Eunan O’Kane has admitted he was frustrated at his lack of first-team football last season.

The 26-year-old was signed by Leeds last summer on a two-year-deal from Premier League outfit Bournemouth, but struggled to hold down a regular role in the first-team squad.

He made just 26 appearances in all competitions for the Championship side, as they finished seventh in the league and narrowly missed out on promotion to the top-flight.

The Republic of Ireland international looked set for a key role throughout the campaign, after starting 12 of Leeds United’s first 13 league games of the season, only to lose his place in the side through injury.

O’Kane missed eight games in the run-up the new year, but featured only intermittently under manager Garry Monk upon his return to action.

He made just 12 first-team appearances between December and May, and O’Kane admits he was left frustrated with Monk for his lack of opportunities.

He said, as quoted by the Irish Times: “Obviously, towards the end of the season I didn’t play as many games as I would have liked.

“It’s a little bit frustrating for me and that frustration is directed at him (Monk) because he is the guy picking the team. But it was fine, I can only compliment him for the season that we have had.”

However, O’Kane insisted that his end of season frustrations did not put any negative strain upon his relationship with Monk, who has since quit the club.

The 38-year-old chief resigned from his post as manager at Elland Road at the end of last month after just one year in charge, with talks over a fresh deal proving dead in the water.

But O’Kane has admitted that it was “frustrating” that Monk and Leeds owner Andrea Radrizzani, who was fronting the charge to see Monk put pen-to-paper, could not strike an agreement.

Share this article