Injury saves Leeds United skipper Liam Cooper from old pal's 'kick' after nostalgic three-year reunion

Jay O'Shea and Liam Cooper have a lot to catch up on after three years on opposite sides of the planet.

Brisbane Roar's Player of the Year for the last two years and the Leeds United captain last saw each other at the former's wedding.

The in-between has been eventful, to say the least, so they've had plenty to talk about this week on the Gold Coast ahead of their two teams meeting at the Cbus Super Stadium [Thursday 10.45am BST].

They won a League Two title together at Chesterfield and then their careers took different paths, O'Shea winning promotions with Sheffield United and Bury, Cooper doing the same with Leeds. They remained close, though.

O'Shea laments the fact that he didn't make it to Ibiza for Cooper's nuptials this summer, his off-season severely truncated by a combination of his place in the A-League All Stars team who faced Barcelona and, ironically enough, a pre-season meeting with his old mate's Premier League side. The 'amazing' opportunity to take on Xavi's superstars in front of 70,000 in May was one O'Shea couldn't pass up and giving them a game, in a 3-2 defeat, made it all the more special.

Returning early for pre-season, when the A-League doesn't start until October, in order to take on Leeds and Aston Villa in the Queensland Champions Cup was another huge bonus for O'Shea.

The very thing that prevented him from reuniting with his pal in the Spanish sun has brought them back together in the Australian winter sun. That's one of a number of reasons why it's so easy to understand O'Shea's desire to play for as long as he can Down Under and live here happily ever after.

"I'm used to the lifestyle now, yeah," he said after training in preparation to face Leeds.

"I mean, it doesn't take long to get used to like, it's very easy to adapt and my wife and kids absolutely love it."

The Irishman was taken by the idea of playing abroad after a successful but intense decade in the EFL and it was then-Roar coach Robbie Fowler who coaxed him 10,000 miles from home in 2019.

"I think it was perfect time, off the back of a really good season and luckily enough Fowler was looking for players in the UK," the 33-year-old told the YEP.

"The second I got here to train I was just asking how do I stay? How many years until I can get permanent residency? Honestly it was the exact same for my wife. How do we stay? I've still got two years left on my contract and I'm really enjoying it, so hopefully I can play into my late 30s.

"That was one of the things that Robbie used to try and sell it - he said you're prolonging your career, there's only 26 games and with the weather it's not as tough on your body. I'd played something like 50 games the season before I came and I haven't missed one since I've been here, touch wood. I think that's partly down to the demands on the body and going into every game fresh. It's not Saturday-Tuesday-Saturday-Tuesday like it is at home."

O'Shea believes comparing the standard of the A-League to a division in the English pyramid is made difficult by the international quality only some of the clubs can boast and a style that, thanks to the searing heat, isn't as frenetic as the EFL.

"It's very different but I think it really suits me," he said.

"You'd probably remember me as a 10 or a wide player but now I'm playing like a six, I get the ball off the defenders and get on it a lot more. I'm not scoring as many obviously but I'm creating a lot more from deeper. It's a completely different ball game for me."

Life, for Cooper, is a completely different ball game these days, too.

The pair took an evening stroll through the Gold Coast earlier this week and walked past a bar. O'Shea jokes that 10 years ago they'd have been straight inside.

"He was still only a kid when he came in from Hull on loan," said O'Shea.

"He's definitely matured and grown and you have to be mature to be a leader of a club like Leeds - you don't just get handed the captaincy and to keep it through so many different managers says a lot. He's obviously a great leader and has got a great head on his shoulders compared to when we were younger.

"If you look at him now you can see that maybe at Chesterfield he wasn't in as good a shape, so he's got a lot fitter."

Several of Cooper's former Chesterfield team-mates make the same points about Cooper. He's matured a lot, but they could see real potential in him.

"You could always tell," said O'Shea.

"Left-sided defender, good on the ball and when we played against Leeds that day he was just phenomenal, brilliant, so they signed him on one game and he's just gone on from strength to strength.

"He's been brilliant for Leeds, even last year on a bit of a bad run he came back in and steadied the ship. It's great to see lads who come from the lower leagues go on to do so well, it's excellent. I think they're hungry for it and when you have a little taste of it like he did as a 16-year-old at Hull, you probably think it's got away from you so to show that desire to get back there tells you about the type of player and character he is."

The two would have loved nothing more than to play against each other in Thursday's game. O'Shea told the local media this week he'd have to give his old mate a kick. Leeds won't be risking Cooper getting a kick from anyone, though, not with a slight soreness in his Achilles.

O'Shea is still relishing the chance to take on Premier League opposition, even if the cake is missing the cherry on top.

"It's going to be amazing to play against them," he said.

"Obviously they've got a big fanbase, it'll probably be the same scenario as the Barcelona game, they'll have more fans in the stadium than we will, but it's a big chance for people in Australia who have never witnessed Premier League teams in the flesh.

"It's great for our league, too, the Leeds game against Villa will be a great spectacle and I'll be going down to watch them and catching up with Coops after the game.

"After all them years it would have been nice to play against him and swap shirts - there's a great story behind us after being together at Chesterfield.

"It's come full circle and now here we are, on the other side of the world."