Lars Hening Joel Ekstrand (born 4 February 1989) is a Swedish former professional footballer who played as a defender.

Beginning his career with Helsingborgs IF in 2008, he moved on to represent Udinese, Watford, Bristol City, and Rotherham before retiring at AIK in 2019.

[4] Ekstrand was featured again in the second leg of the UEFA Cup Round of 32, at Olympia stadium and played 45 minutes before being substituted, due to a groin injury, as the club lost 2–1, resulting in their elimination from the tournament.

[6] During a 2–2 draw against IFK Norrköping on 20 April 2008, Ekstrand started the game but was substituted in the 7th minute following a collision and suffered a broken nose and concussion.

[8] Since then, Ekstrand had developed himself into a key player at Helsingborg IF with the likes of Marcus Nilsson, Andreas Granqvist and Samir Beloufa.

[13] After serving a one match suspension, Ekstrand returned to the first team and provided a goal for Rasmus Jönsson, who went on to score a hat–trick, in a 3–0 win over AIK on 29 April 2009.

[22] While the club go on the unbeaten run, he received a straight red card in the first half, in a 1–0 win over Mjällby on 26 April 2010 and served a two match suspension.

[24] Since returning from suspension, he continued to regain his first team place for Helsingborgs IF, forming a centre–back partnership with Nilsson and helping the club to keep their league title chance alive.

[27] In a follow–up match, Ekstrand started in the Svenska Cupen Final against Hammarby and helped Helsingborgs win the tournament by beating the opposition team 1–0 on 13 November 2010.

[37] For this match, the club changed from the previous season's 3–5–2 formation to 4–1–4–1, where wing-backs Mauricio Isla and Pablo Armero became midfielders, thus using 4 defenders instead of 3 centre-backs.

[39] However, he continued to find his first team opportunities limited and found himself placed on the substitute bench, due to competitions from Medhi Benatia and Danilo.

[45] Having been out of the first team for a month, he made his debut for the club, coming on in the second half to replace Neuton, in a 2–1 loss against Charlton Athletic on 2 October 2012.

[47] This lasted until he suffered a knee injury and was substituted in the 78th minute during Watford's win against Bolton Wanderers on 2 February 2013.

[49] Ekstrand made his return to the starting line–up against Ipswich Town on 18 February 2013 and helped the club keep a clean sheet, in a 2–0 win.

[57] His first appearance for Watford since joining them on a permanent basis came on 6 August 2013, where Ekstrand captained the club and starting the whole game, in a 3–1 win over Bristol Rovers in the first round of the League Cup.

[62] Amid the transfer speculation, Ekstrand made a poor start of the season when he was "sent–off after just two minutes for a collision with Nathan Redmond", in a 3–0 loss against Norwich City on 16 August 2014.

[64] Since returning from suspension, Ekstrand continued to regain his first team place, playing in the centre–back position for the next thirteen league matches despite facing competitions along the way.

[68] However, during a 3–2 win against Leeds United on 28 February 2015, he suffered a hamstring injury and was substituted in the 42nd minute, resulting in him missing the next two matches.

[70] However, his return was short–lived when it was announced on 24 March 2015 that he would be out for up to nine months after damaging his cruciate ligament in a Football League Championship match against Ipswich Town three days ago.

"[76] However, Sánchez Flores' was denied by Ekstrand, saying he hasn't been offered a new contract by Watford but was keen on staying at the club.

"[78] After failing to make a first team appearance during the 2015–16 season due to injury and his contract situation changing after a change in management with Quique Sánchez Flores leaving the club and being replaced by Walter Mazzarri, on 3 June 2016, it was announced that Ekstrand would leave Watford upon the expiry of his contract.

[81] On 6 September 2016, Ekstrand signed for Championship club Bristol City on a one-year deal, after training with the squad during August.

[83] Ekstrand made his debut for Bristol City in the 2–2 draw with Rotherham United on 10 September 2016, coming on as a substitute for Scott Golbourne.

[87][88] On 2 February 2017, free agent Ekstrand signed for fellow Championship side Rotherham United on a deal until the end of the season.

[89] He made his Rotherham United (and his only appearance) debut, making his first start for the side and played 68 minutes before being substituted, in a 5–0 loss to the hands of Cardiff City on 16 February 2017.

"[96] Ekstrand made his debut for the club, coming on in the 85th minute in a 3–0 win against Halmstads BK on 5 March 2018 in the Svenska Cupen match.

[98] It wasn't until on 11 November 2018 when Ekstrand made his return to the starting line–up against Kalmar, coming on in the 85th minute and played for the rest of the game, as AIK won 1–0, a victory that saw the club win the 2018 Allsvenskan.

During the club's training camp in Dubai in early–February, Ekstrand suffered a lower body injury that kept him out of games throughout the season.

[130] In an interview with Watford Observer, Ekstrand also revealed that he speaks English and grew up supporting Arsenal as a young kid.