Liam Cooper makes memories with Leeds United and Scotland but has job to do under Marcelo Bielsa

In late July, Leeds United captain Liam Cooper went to bed kissing the Championship trophy, waking up the next morning still pinching himself that he was a Premier League player.

A lifelong dream had been realised with his boyhood club following an elongated campaign, which saw the promotion race from England’s second division played out behind closed doors.

United returned to the Premier League in September under Marcelo Bielsa’s guidance and during their opening eight games there have been ups and downs, accompanied by many lessons along the way.

Cooper last week continued his year of celebration as he helped Scotland, his adopted country, qualify for next summer’s delayed Euro 2020 tournament.

That night he went to bed with Tartan Army hero David Marshall’s name ringing in his ears following a late night conga around the team hotel, with dreams of England and Wembley a reality after the penalty shoot-out win over Serbia.

For Leeds it was a 16-year wait to return to the top flight, while Scotland’s 22 years of hurt were brought to an end as they reached a major tournament for the first time since 1998.

It will entirely depend on your persuasion over which you believe to be the greater achievement. For Cooper, though, he is and will, live both as they unfold before his very eyes.

As he returns to Thorp Arch in the coming hours the centre-back will swiftly turn his attention back to the day job for the visit of Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal to West Yorkshire.

When club football takes a backseat next June, Cooper will be preparing for a summer of adventure and one without top-flight pressures but, for now, at least, Scotland can wait.

After two chastening 4-1 defeats, Bielsa and his captain have work to do, starting with the Gunners.

“We’re sort of still learning on the job,” Cooper conceded earlier this month.

“There are a lot of players in our team that have never played in the Premier League. You’re going to come up against these types of teams and players who’re devastating.

“When we first came up it was a bit of an unknown. Is the way we play going to be effective? Are we going to have the quality of player to excel in the Premier League?

“I can only say from my point of view that we have proved to people we do belong. Obviously, it’s getting consistency and we have to play to that level all the time.

“I’m sure the league table will say that at the end of the season. We have to stand up to it and attack it head on and see where that leaves us.”

Cooper has made five starts in the top flight so far, missing three league games largely because of a groin injury picked up on international duty last month.

He will be hoping to dust off any potential issues ahead of Arsenal in LS11, a game which would have no doubt provided a raucous atmosphere in more normal times.

“When you’re injured you have a different role to play,” Cooper said.

“You still get the anxiety, but you sort of have to approach the lads and get them going in a different way.

“I’m excited, enjoying every moment of it and I’m sure the fans are as well. We’ve got to enjoy this ride. We want to do as well as we can and approach every game to win it, we’ll see where that leaves us.”

Bielsa and company’s new surroundings are vastly different from a different kind of pressure in the Football League and the 46-game campaign that comes with it.

In supporters’ eyes, Leeds are back where they rightly belong but in the Premier League every performance, goal, pass and mistake is analysed far more widely, bringing with it a very different kind of demand.

“There’s more media attention,” Cooper admitted.

“The aura is there around every game, as opposed to maybe a select few in the Championship. With the international broadcasters and everybody who is involved it is a lot different.

“The quality of players you are coming up against, you can’t switch off for a second and you have to be thinking about your job every second of every game.

“The quality of player is different class but the boys have taken to it well.

“We’ve gained confidence from some good results and we have to try and stay like that.

“Play with freedom and make sure we go and put our stamp on games.”