Leeds United man handed major pre-Wembley boost despite ‘difficult’ gametime struggle
Due to a foot injury sustained on the first day of the season against Cardiff City, the defender has only started eight of the Whites’ Championship games this season. Pascal Struijk and Ethan Ampadu have since replaced him in the starting lineup. Cooper has been benched in favour of Struijk and Ampadu wearing the captain’s armband, although manager Daniel Farke has continuously praised the leadership role his captain still plays.
Despite this, Cooper’s lack of playing time hasn’t prevented him from competing in back-to-back European Championships; instead, Steve Clarke has been happy to keep the center-back in his initial tournament plans. Following three successive underutilised substitute appearances, the Leeds player started 90 minutes at the centre of the defence in Scotland’s most recent international match, a 1-0 home loss to Northern Ireland. From Clarke’s 2019 debut, Cooper has made 17 appearances for the Tartan Army.
The likes of Grant Hanley of Norwich City, Ryan Porteous of Watford, John Souttar of Rangers, and Scott McKenna of Nottingham Forest—who is now on loan at Danish Superliga club Copenhagen—will challenge him for a spot in the starting lineup.
But this week, Cooper’s attention is on Sunday’s Championship play-off final at Wembley, where he and the Whites will try to win promotion to the Premier League for the second time in four years. In a speech to the YEP this week, he acknowledged that, although it has not always been easy, he has done the best he can in his capacity as a primarily non-playing leader. It has indeed been challenging, he said.
“I obviously want to play as many games and as many minutes as I can at the end of the day. However, you need to understand that. I obviously had an injury during a challenging point in the season—the opening game—following a successful preseason. It was never easy to sustain an injury like that. Naturally, after the guys join and perform well, you sort of attempt to impose yourself back on the squad. It’s been challenging, but I believe you need to adopt a new position. Maintaining the boys’ motivation, setting an example, and upholding the standards both on and off the pitch are obviously important, and I believe I’ve done that rather well.
Fortunately, we have many capable leaders now, so it’s clear that I’m not the only one doing this. Stuey [Dallas] has been all over the place, and Ethan has been outstanding. Luke [Ayling] was there at the beginning of the season, obviously, and even little Archie [Grey] takes the lead in his own unique manner. It’s been challenging, but I’ve enjoyed it. We’ve obviously performed incredibly well this season. And after that, the last assault is on.”
