Leeds United defender Liam Cooper has had a superb week at Elland Road and has been rewarded with an international call-up following his fine display against Brighton this weekend.

The 25-year-old defender has found first-team opportunities difficult to come by for most of the season but did himself no dishonour after a fine performance against top-of-the-table Brighton at Elland road on Saturday.

Many have tried and failed to contain the likes of Murray, Baldock and Knockaert this season but Leeds did an exceptionally good job at doing so and Cooper was very much a part of that on the day.

And after such a promising display, could we see Pontus Jansson drop out of the first-team for arguably the most important run of games in Leeds United's season?

The Swede has been superb all season but if Cooper is the man of the moment, surely he needs to remain in the first-team equation?

With all that in mind, here's 3 major reasons why this Leeds United star will be key for the rest of the season...

If there was a game to prove yourself - Brighton was it

After a drab first-half which saw little action in the slightest, the Whites sprung to life after the break.

Thanks to a Chris Wood double, they shot down the Seagulls but defensively, Cooper was the star of the show.

He marshalled the back line with real aplomb, playing with confidence we haven't seen from him at other points this season.

If there was a game to stand up and be counted, that was definitely it and Cooper did just that.

He'll be fresher than other players in the squad

Having started just seven games in the Championship this campaign, Cooper will be a whole lot fresher than the likes of Jansson and Bartley going forward this season.

Bartley and Jansson have been absolutely superb all campaign but it's a long Championship season and to have someone like Cooper in the ranks who can step forward and do a job when asked is a massive benefit to manager Garry Monk.

He's done the promotion journey in the past

At whatever level you've played at in your professional career, having experience of a promotion race is of massive importance, especially when those crunch games start building up.

And in Liam Cooper, they have a man who was at the heart of Chesterfield's promotion to League One in the 2013-2014 season and someone who was nominated for the PFA team of the year that season.

That knowledge will stand the rest of the Leeds squad in extremely good stead as their will be players in this side that haven't made that journey in the past.