Gordon Strachan has admitted that he made a “mistake” by omitting Leeds United skipper Liam Cooper from his last Scotland squad.
The Tartan Army manager Cooper, 26, made the admission on Monday when he announced the Scotland squad for their upcoming World Cup qualifier fixtures against Slovakia and Slovenia.
The centre-back has been a key figure this season in the Leeds side that has set the early pace in the Championship to rise to the top of the table.
Strachan revealed that he is delighted with the form of Cooper and his talent spotters have also delivered rave reviews.
“He’s playing well. He’s playing in a winning side and he is a big influence on the side, he is the captain now. That’s big progress for Leeds, which is good, and himself,” said the Scotland manager, as quoted by TeamTalk.
“I probably should have had him in the last squad to be honest but I made sure I didn’t make the same mistake again. Because of his performances, he is back in the squad. He has been highly-rated by my scouting staff and myself over the past couple of months.”
Cooper has been called up to the Scottish national squad on previous occasions but has yet to win a senior cap.
OPINION
Charlie Mulgrew and Christophe Berra are Strachan’s favoured pair at the heart of the Scotland defence and have acquitted themselves well in World Cup qualifying. But Cooper could provide serious competition to them for the two pivotal upcoming games. The former Hull man appears to have turned a corner in his Leeds career this season. He lost his regular spot to the formidable duo of Pontus Jansson and Kyle Bartley last season, and few Leeds fans were bothered about the demotion of a player whose capacity for silly errors was infuriating. The Cooper of 2017-18 has been a completely different animal. He looks more assured and composed, and has cut a commanding presence at the heart of one of the Championship’s finest defences. Good centre-backs age like fine wines. Unlike wide players or forwards, they’re less reliant on speed. Cooper has fed off the aura of Jansson and is proving that he is maturing into a reliable central defender in his own right.