Out-of-favour Leeds defender Liam Cooper admits he was pleased to finally get some game time against Wolves

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Despite making 39 appearances last season, Liam Cooper is yet to prove to Garry Monk that he deserves a place in the first-team.

Leeds United defender Liam Cooper admitted on his official Twitter account that he was pleased to get some game time in the latter stages of Saturday’s 1-0 win at Wolves.

The 25-year-old had only featured from the start three times in the Championship under Garry Monk despite starting the season in impressive fashion with a Man of the Match performance against Fulham in August.

However, the arrivals of Pontus Jansson (below) from Torino and Kyle Bartley from Swansea have pushed Cooper down the pecking order, with the duo helping Leeds pick up yet another clean sheet at Molineux on Saturday.

And the former Hull City youth-teamer, who came off the bench to replace Hadi Sacko in the 88^th minute, admitted that he was pleased to feature after a spell out of the team.

However, Cooper appears unlikely to wrestle back his starting berth, with Jansson and Bartley forming one of the most reliable partnerships seen at Elland Road in recent years.

Jansson, in particular, has impressed greatly since arriving from Serie A, drawing comparisons with legendary centre-half Lucas Radebe for his no-nonsense approach at centre-back while Bartley’s height and athleticism has cemented his place in the starting XI under his former Swansea City boss (below).

However, that does not mean Cooper is about to cut ties with Leeds any time soon, with the Yorkshire Evening Post reporting recently that the Scottish defender will sign a contract extension until 2018.