Leeds United's promotion hopes have taken a slight dent with the news that Kiko Casilla has been found guilty of using racist language towards an opponent. 

The incident took place earlier in this year's league campaign against Charlton Athletic, when he used racist language towards Addicks forward Jonathan Leko.

Casilla has been fined £60,000 and suspended for Leeds' next eight league games, which will see him miss the majority of the remaining games for Marcelo Bielsa's men.

The Spaniard has been a key member of the Leeds squad and has made 37 appearances in total this term for the promotion-chasing Whites, who are currently sat five points clear of third-placed Fulham in the Championship with 11 games left of this season.

Casilla was quick to take to Twitter and issue an official statement over the verdict, and claimed that he understands the process of which the punishment is handed out over any racism charge.

But the Spaniard also went on to state that he doesn't feel as though the guilty verdict is a clear reflection of the incident, which took place earlier this season.

Leeds will be hoping they can cope without their first-choice goalkeeper for these eight games, starting with a positive result against Hull City in the early kick-off on Saturday.

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The Verdict: 

It's interesting to see him still maintaining his innocence over the incident.

Casilla clearly doesn't feel as though he's done anything wrong, even though the FA have found him guilty of using racist language towards an opponent.

But nothing can change now, and it's important that Illan Meslier performs to a high standard at the earliest of opportunities for Marcelo Bielsa's men.

The young Frenchman really impressed me against Arsenal earlier this season, and I think he's a more than good enough replacement for Kiko Casilla.