It's been two months since Leeds United crashed out of the play-off semi finals against Derby and club captain Liam Cooper admits he was dwelling on it in the weeks following the fixture.
Leeds lost 2-4 in the second leg of the play-off semi final after winning the first leg 1-0, making it 3-4 on aggregate. The results saw The Whites miss out on promotion to the Premier League despite having been in the top two of the Championship for the majority of the season.
Speaking to the press in Australia ahead of the friendly against Manchester United on Wednesday, Cooper has been reflecting on the emotions he went through following the game.
Cooper said: "Losing out so late and so last minute it was hard to swallow.
"For the first two or three weeks it was on your mind. You couldn't forget about it."
He told the press that getting so close and falling short at the last was motivating the players to succeed this season.
"I think it's given the lads that extra firepower, the extra burn in the belly," he said.
"We want to play this game [against Manchester United] in the Premier League. We don't want it to be a pre-season friendly. That's the desire of the group."
The United players landed in Australia on Sunday after a 22 hour journey and got straight to work on their fitness. They take on Manchester United at the Optus Stadium in Perth on Wednesday night.
