Leeds United captain makes 'stolen' promotion claim - and West Brom will agree

West Brom news - WBA and Leeds United had been on course to achieve promotion to the Premier League before the season was halted

Leeds United captain Liam Cooper feels his side were robbed of their Premier League celebration at the start of the month.

In comments that will resonate with West Bromwich Albion fans, Cooper said the first weekend in May should have been a historic occasion to mark promotion.

Although neither side are mathematically up, they had been well on course to finish as the top two before football ground to a halt.

As it is, neither Leeds nor Albion are any nearer to the top-flight than they were over two months ago when fixtures were suspended.

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"It was very difficult,” Cooper admitted to LeedsLive. "It was really tough. It sort of felt like it had been stolen from us a little bit.

"That could have been our day and our moment to enjoy it with the fans and our families.

"We’ve so sacrificed so much, but we’re going to have to sacrifice more, sacrifice playing in front of our fans, sacrifice our families being able to watch us.

"The goal never changes. First and foremost we set out to be promoted and get back to the Premier League and that’s still our objective. We’ve got to go and finish that."

Championship sides returned to training this week as part of a plan to resume playing in June after over 1,000 tests for players and staff were carried out.

“It’s horrible, to be honest. I was gagging when I had to stick the swab to the back of my throat,” he said.

“Short and not very sweet, I’ll describe it as. In and out, really. It’s all done on the indoor. We don’t come into contact with anybody.

“It was all straightforward. We’re very lucky, as a group, in Rob [Price, head of medicine and performance] and Rishi [Dhand, club doctor] and Jamie [O’Shea, club doctor], they’ve been planning this for a long time.

“They don’t leave anything to chance, so, as a group, we’re in good hands and we’re as safe as we possibly can be.”

The Baggies, who are second in the table, trail Leeds by a point ahead of the final nine fixtures of the season.