OPINION
Liam Cooper will be playing for his Leeds United future on Sunday afternoon when he takes to the field in the Whites’ first Championship game of the season against Bolton.
The 25-year-old centre-back is expected to start at the heart of the Leeds defence against Phil Parkinson’s Bolton, alongside summer signing Matthew Pennington who has joined on loan from Bolton.
Cooper and Pennington are almost definite to start with Leeds possessing only three first-team centre-backs along with Sweden international Pontus Jansson, who is suspended for the Whites’ opening two encounters.
The former Chesterfield defender will be looking to show manager Thomas Christiansen that he has what it takes to be the man to partner former Torino stopper Jansson this season.
Christiansen, who will be taking charge of his first game as boss of the Yorkshire giants, is expected to line up with a 4-2-3-1 system after using a back four for much of pre-season.
That will see Cooper most probably partner Pennington, with both defenders looking to show their new manager that they have what it takes to be the man to partner Jansson when the fan favourite returns.
However, it will not just be about gaining a first-team slot in the starting eleven for Cooper, but the Leeds’ number six will also be playing with the concern that this season could be his last at Elland Road.
Just 12 months remain on the defender’s contract with the former Premier League side, after moving to Leeds three summers ago in August 2014.
Contracts have been handed out to the likes of Ronaldo Vieira, Kalvin Phillips and Tyler Denton, but Cooper is yet to sit down with his new manager regarding a new deal.
He joins a whole host of Leeds’ senior stars in the final year of their current contracts, along with the likes of Pablo Hernandez, Gaetano Berardi, Liam Bridcutt, Stuart Dallas and Souleymane Doukara.
In what is a huge weekend for Cooper, then, the defender must look to pull out all the stops and earn his place in the first team alongside Jansson in order to give himself the season to impress Christiansen and earn a new deal.