Leeds were reduced to ten men early in the second half against Aston Villa recently, with summer signing Luis Sinisterra getting his marching orders.
Despite going down a man, the Whites put up a fight and managed to record only their second clean sheet of the league campaign, their first coming in their win over Chelsea at the same venue, as it ended 0-0.
Matteo acknowledged that clean sheets have been few and far between for Jesse Marsch’s team so far and hopes that the Whites can add more to their kitty.
The 48-year-old also hopes that Cooper will take plenty of confidence from his performance, given his recent injury troubles.
Matteo noted that Cooper looked sharper and he can see a really good partnership blossoming at the heart of the Leeds backline between the Scotland international and Koch.
“Clean sheets, you know I always talk about we don’t get very many so long may that continue”, Matteo said on LUTV.
“I think it’s so important, even for confidence, especially for Liam Cooper.
“Coops hasn’t played a lot of football, really, because of his injuries and stuff.
“He’s been out for a while and I thought he was excellent, the leader, the captain.
“He looks fit, you know, really fit and not to say he wasn’t fit before, for me he looks sharper, he looks alive to everything and he’s leading by example.
“I think him and [Robin] Koch could form a really good partnership.”
Leeds travel to Selhurst Park to take on Patrick Vieira’s Crystal Palace side on Sunday.
