Leeds captain Liam Cooper hopes that their spirited display in the 1-0 defeat against Arsenal at Elland Road can be a "catalyst" in turning their poor form around. The Whites extended their winless run to six league games but dominated for large periods against the Premier League leaders.
The Whites face an important run of fixtures in the next three weeks - starting against rock bottom Leicester City on Wednesday. Cooper believes Leeds should've come away with a result against the Gunners and has urged his side to build on what was ultimately a strong performance.
"The delay at the start of the game was not ideal," Cooper told LUFC TV. "I think both teams did well and made it a very good spectacle throughout the game. I thought we deserved a lot more and [I am] disappointed to come away with nothing again.
"It's difficult. We were in the ascendency, I can't really remember Arsenal having too many chances and we've got to take our chances when they come. That's the level we're at.
"I think Bukayo Saka's chance was even a half chance and it shows what we're up against in this league but I hope that that is the catalyst to turn our season and our efforts into more points.
"Hopefully we can do that. It's a quick turnaround and we've got a massive game against Leicester on Thursday."
Rodrigo was at fault for the Arsenal goal when his cross field pass was chased down by Bukayo Saka. The Arsenal winger won his duel with Pascal Struijk and raced into the penalty area to receive a through ball from Martin Odegaard and finish past Illan Meslier from a wide angle.
The Spaniard was replaced by Patrick Bamford at the break, who was involved in the thick of the drama throughout the second half. He had a goal disallowed for the softest of pushes on Gabriel and struck wide from the spot after William Saliba handled inside the box.
Bamford was then involved in another controversial incident in second half stoppage time. After pushing Gabriel to the ground, the Arsenal defender reacted by kicking out at the Leeds centre-forward.
Referee Chris Kavanagh reviewed the incident on the pitchside monitor and felt compelled to rescind the red card and award a free-kick to Arsenal, as opposed to a penalty to Leeds.
Cooper believes Kavanagh made the wrong decision, but is confident that Bamford has the character to bounce back from a difficult period in his career.
"Jesse has been asking a lot of Pat [Bamford]," Cooper added. "He's had a rough year and there is nobody that works harder and strikers have these patches of form.
"When we got the second penalty which then wasn't, Pat was the first one who said, 'no I'm having it' and that's credit to him. That's the type of characters we need in the team and we had that today. Everyone to a man was good and it's just heart breaking and absolutely gutting to come away with nothing.
"He [Kavanagh] said that Gabriel has been pushed before but I still don't think that affects the kicking out. I think he [Gabriel] knows what he's doing and speaking to their players, I won't name names, but they thought exactly the same."
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