Liam Cooper declares requirements to take Leeds United up with big warning and ex-boss admission

Leeds will finally begin their quest to bounce back from last season’s Premier League relegation with Championship promotion upon their first test of the new season at home to Cardiff City on Sunday afternoon. Ahead of the contest, Cooper sat down for an interview with LUTV, during which the skipper highlighted the fact that Leeds will get nowhere with just 11 players, outlining the importance of a team ethic all the way down from boss Daniel Farke to Whites men not even making the matchday squad.

Pressed on what it would take to get Leeds back up, the captain – who is reportedly wanted by Saudi Arabia side Al-Qadsiah – said: "I think the good thing about this group, there's lads in there who have experienced the Championship and some players who have not so we're always there to be leaned on.

"I think everybody in this training ground and at the club knows how difficult it is to get out of the league. We can't think too far ahead. You know if you get too carried away in this league it has an appetite of biting you on the backside and slinging up a crazy result.

"The consistency has got to be there. The standards have got to be there all throughout the season and you've got to take each game as it comes.

"We've not really spoke. Obviously we know what this club expects and the expectation from outside. But we have just got to drive that from inside and everybody's got to be on the same hymn sheet.

"There's no one bigger than the club, no one bigger than the team and unfortunately for the manager he has to pick 11 players. But in this league you will go nowhere with just 11 players.

"It takes a team effort from the manager and his staff to the players to the lads who are on the bench and to the lads who aren't making squads as well. They are all as vitally important as each other and we've got to buy into that.

"It's going to be tough, it's going to be ups and downs as we say and we've got to get that consistency, get off to a good start, and then just keep oiling the machine and keep going."

Asked if Leeds could draw on their past Championship experience of going up as champions in the summer of 2020, Cooper reasoned: “The memories I have was how difficult it was.

"Obviously, we came up short the first season under Marcelo - how difficult it was in that year and the difficulties we had in in the season after as well.

"You can't leave any stone unturned. The Championship throws so many different games, so many different challenges at you and you've got to be prepared to stand up and fight and and dig in.

"Games are always tight in this league. They are usually decided by a mistake or a moment of brilliance and we're going to need everybody. It's going to be a massive team effort from everyone at the club. We've all got to buy into it, pick each other up and keep driving forward and that's the Championship in a nutshell."