Leeds United and Scotland man Liam Cooper has had a frustrating time with injury lately – but he says that some tough love has helped him through it.
The centre-back has had a stop-start time of things since the last Scotland camp in November. He missed the Leeds United festive period in December due to injury, which followed on from a month out after the October international matches.

Cooper is back in the fold. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)
He made his return on Saturday in a 46-minute first half appearance but it did not end well for Leeds United, suffering an FA Cup shock, swept aside by League Two Crawley Town 3-0.
Now looking for his Premier League return against Brighton this week, Cooper has opened up on his injuries: “Getting injured at any time of the season is difficult, but you just have to get your head down, let it heal and work hard.”
“Rueben Crespo (fitness coach) has been tough on me, so I’ve not lost any fitness. It was good to get 45 minutes in a disappointing game last weekend, but all eyes are on this weekend now and I’m looking forward to that.
“We’ve got to be good with our home form, that is something we pride ourselves on and the two results against Newcastle United and Burnley is something we can take a lot of confidence from,” said Cooper.

Returning to league action for Leeds United. (Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)
“Brighton are a good side, it will be a tough test and hopefully one we can go and win. They are a big threat, they’ve got a lot of good attacking players and they’re a good team who try to play. They’ll bring the game to us and I think that will suit us as well.”
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