'There's no excuse' - Leeds United man makes Whites admission with fired up message

Leeds headed for Saturday’s clash at Southampton on a six-game unbeaten run but crumbled to a 3-1 defeat after shipping in three goals within the first 35 minutes. Writing in the matchday programme for tonight’s QPR clash, Cooper admitted there was “no excuse” for Leeds being 3-0 down at the break, declaring that the performance was “not good enough” and vowing to take the lesson “on the chin”.

Cooper, though, quickly looked ahead to tonight’s hosting of third-bottom QPR as an immediate opportunity to bounce back for a “fired up” Whites.

Cooper wrote: "Naturally, we went to Southampton with a lot of confidence and belief, following our good run of form and results. However, we simply weren’t good enough on the day. We didn’t reach the levels we showed against Watford and in the matches before that. There’s no excuse for being three goals down at the break and it’s a tough lesson we have to take on the chin.

“The good thing about the Championship is that it is relentless and there is always another game just around the corner. We’re all fired up for the game tonight against Queens Park Rangers and we want to use the hurt we felt after the game from Saturday in a positive way this evening.”