Leeds United captain Liam Cooper has praised his teammates for an “incredible season” despite missing out on automatic promotion.
The Whites have achieved 83 points in their first season under Marcelo Bielsa with one game to play and agonisingly missed out on the top two, currently sitting in third.
Despite the disappointment, Cooper spoke about his highlight of the season to LUTV: “The pre-season was tough, very hard. But to a man all the lads really bought into it and obviously we’d love to say we haven’t got many games left but we’ve got a few more to go.
“That’s been the highlight really. The lads have been different class and really showed what we’re about this season.”
Leeds will now have to settle for the play-offs in their bid to return to the Premier League and the defender was hopeful of success: “We’ve had an incredible season but we’ve still got another massive few games coming up.”
He went on to add: “We’re really looking forward to the play-offs and hopefully we can really achieve something come the end of it.”
OPINION
There is no doubt that the last month have been nothing short of disappointing for Leeds. To miss out on automatic promotion in the way they did was heartbreaking for all connected with the club after being in such strong positions throughout the campaign. Having said this, it has been an incredible season for the Whites who have achieved this impressive feat with most of the same squad that failed them last season. The additions of Barry Douglas and Patrick Bamford have been irrelevant for a big part of the season with both missing for large chunks with injuries. That’s what makes it special, Marcelo Bielsa has transformed a squad with little confidence in to one of the best in the league and with hard training methods, those players well and truly responded while proving their worth to the club. While the season is not fully over with the play-offs to come, there is a sense of disappointment and regret that overshadows the Leeds squad after relinquishing their top two spot.