Noel Whelan lauds Liam Cooper’s form after Leeds draw

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Liam Cooper was excellent during Leeds United’s Championship draw on New Year’s Day.

Noel Whelan has told BBC Radio Leeds that he has nothing but praise for Liam Cooper after the centre-back’s excellent performance during Leeds United’s draw with Nottingham Forest on New Year’s Day.

It was a hugely frustrating afternoon for Thomas Christiansen’s side as the game ended in a stalemate. Leeds certainly created the better chances throughout the game, but their performance left a large majority of the fans disappointed as they struggled to break the visitors down.

One player who did earn a number of plaudits was Cooper. The defender hardly put a foot wrong and had the fans on their feet during the first-half when he made a fantastic last-ditch tackle inside the penalty box. And after the game, Whelan could not praise the captain high enough for his recent contribution.

“I’ve got nothing but praise for him. He’s been a leader all season, and he’s definitely stepped up to the plate and enjoying that captain’s armband at the moment and leading by example. He’s been brilliant,” he told BBC Radio Leeds.

Given how Cooper’s Leeds career had gone before the start of this season, few would have imagined that he would have established himself as such an important member of Christiansen’s side over the last few months.

He has still made the odd mistake throughout the campaign, but he surely has to be considered as the player who has made the greatest amount of improvement since the season started, with his partnership with Pontus Jansson recently looking to be crucial to the team’s fortunes.