Press Conferences (Page 4)

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Yeovil Town manager Mark Cooper believes the absence of a number of his regular first teamers offers an opportunity to other members of the squad this weekend.

The Glovers travel to Southend United on Saturday without suspended defender Morgan Williams and Dom Bernard and striker Aaron Jarvis, along with injured captain Matt Worthington and full-back Michael Smith.

The boss also told BBC Somerset reporter Jack Killah that other members of the squad were struggling with illness ahead of the trip to Essex.

He said: “We have got (Morgan) Williams out suspended, (Aaron) Jarvis out suspended, Dom Bernard out suspended, we have got (Matt) Worthington and Michael Smith injured and on top of that we have got one or two struggling with this cold or flu. I’m sure the boys that are ill will put their hand up and want to play, but it gives some of the other boys chance to get some game time.

“It is very rare we have a full bench (of seven substitutes this season). I’m not massive on we have to have a full bench, because you can only use five. I’ll be happy if we can get to five on the bench on Saturday for sure.”

He added: “Suspensions have killed us this week, Dom Bernard and Jarvis both got a stupid bookings (in the 3-1 home win over Maidenhead United) and that hurts us. They are both in such good form and going into this game in a real good vein of form, it just puts the pressure on the other lads, which we could do without. But, we’re not going to cry about it, we’re going to go and try and get a result.”

Jarvis, who has three goals in his last two matches, and Bernard both sit out one-man bans for collecting five bookings whilst Williams serves the second match of a three-match ban for his sending off in the goalless draw at Tamworth. Cooper has said he hopes to have Smith back for the following weekend’s home match with FC Halifax Town.

Pedro Borges has made four appearances for Exeter City this season.

Former Glovers’ academy player Pedro Borges will be available having joined on loan until January during the week, and Cooper expects him to be an asset to the squad alongside fellow loanees wingers Kofi Shaw and James Plant.

He said: “Pedro is a young player like Kofi (Shaw), like (James) Plant, that wants to come and play some minutes. He is desperate to get some first-team football, he’s 6’1″ and athletic, he certainly adds to the forward areas of the pitch.

“We have had our eye on him because of his connection with the Yeovil area, being at Yeovil initially. I spoke to Gary Caldwell, the Exeter manager when we played them pre-season and just said ‘keep an eye on him, he’s going to be available at some point’, we got that opportunity at the start of the week to bring him in, with him being local as well, it’s a no-brainer.”

Having had no fixture last weekend due to the early exit from the FA Cup, the Glovers travel to Southend with the second-best record in the National League Premier over the last four games, with three wins and one draw, the same as leaders York City and second-placed Forest Green Rovers.

Southend went out of the Cup last weekend after a late extra-time winner from League One Charlton  Athletic, but won last time out in the league at Roots’ Hall, defeating Tamworth. However, home soil has not been the happiest of hunting grounds having won just three of their eight matches there this season.

On his side’s form, Cooper said: “When you win games it breeds confidence but as the coach it has been more about our performances. We have been playing well, we have spoken about the conversion rate (of chances to goals) as not being high enough, but we’ve been playing well and we try and talk about performances. If we keep doing that, the results will come.

“We’ve started to score goals and that’s been the only thing missing. The players have been great we have played some brilliant football and as I’ve mentioned, if you look at all the teams that we have played recently, they have all gone in the FA Cup last week, played against Football League teams and nearly all of them have won.”

Charlie Cooper celebrates his goal in the 3-1 home win over Maidenhead United. Picture courtesy of Gary Brown.

It will be exactly two weeks since the 3-1 home win over Maidenhead United when Yeovil run out in Essex at the weekend, but Cooper believes the break will leave his available players refreshed.

He said: “It is always good to have a freshen up, but only if you hit the ground running again. We knew after the last game that we were going to be missing players with suspension (against Southend), then on top of that you’ve got a horrendous bug going round the country, isn’t there? I’m sure most clubs will be missing players at the weekend with that, but we have to deal with it.

“We take the game in isolation and it’s one that I’m sure Southend are expecting a tough game and one that we are really looking forward to. The players that do come into the team are good players and they have an opportunity to show that.”

He added: “At the minute, I know that we’re in the play-offs and we want to try and win as many games and try and stay up there and we think we’re a reasonably-sized club for the level. The way we are playing we believe that can upset one or two of the big boys along the way and we want to try and stay around the top for as long as we can. We can only do that by taking it game-by-game.“

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Yeovil Town have received an offer from an unnamed National League club for winger Jordan Young.

Manager Mark Cooper confirmed the offer following the 3-1 home win over Maidenhead United on Saturday which saw the 25-year-old left out of the squad.

Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Ian Randall after the game, the boss called on supporters to trust him with decisions about the Glovers’ playing squad.

He said: “We have had an offer for Jordan, so we are discussing that and we will take some time over the weekend to consider that. All I will say is we have to keep evolving we have to keep making the squad better and make sure everyone who comes here is desperate to play for us and all I will say is trust what we are doing.”

Young, who joined from Chippenham Town in January 2023, appeared off the substitutes’ bench in the 0-0 draw at Tamworth on Tuesday night, but was not in the squad against Maidenhead.

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Yeovil Town boss Mark Cooper says defender Finn Cousin-Dawson has deserved his chance in the starting XI for today’s home match with Maidenhead United.

The defender, a summer signing following his release by Bradford City, replaces the suspended Morgan Williams who is banned following his sending off in the goalless draw at Tamworth on Tuesday night.

Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Ian Randall ahead of the match, Cooper said: “Finn Cousin-Dawson replaces Morgs, there is no drama there. Finn has waited patiently for his chance, trained really hard so he gets an opportunity. Whittle comes in on the left and we have switched Plant across to the right, he is right-footed, so that is an easy one for us.”

The 22-year-old has made seven appearances ahead of today’s game although only started twice. He is one of four changes to the Glovers’ XI with Alex Whittle, Frank Nouble and Kofi Shaw all in the starting line-up.

New signing Caleb Hughes is named among the six substitutes – of the seven able to be named this season – and Cooper revealed pre-match that the original plan had been to loan the former Cardiff City academy product out.

He said: “Caleb has been training with us for a number of weeks now and initially the thought was that we were going to get him in and loan him straight out, to give him a chances to get some games under his belt. But we need him today for numbers, so he will be on the bench.”

Following the match, the Glovers will sit out next weekend following their exit from the FA Cup, but the manager said the break would give injured players including full-back Michael Smith and injured captain Matt Worthington more time in their own fitness fights.

He added: “It enables us to clear a few little niggles up. We would rather be in the FA Cup, but it gives Michael Smith and Worthy an extra week and it gives some of the players who are not quite up to speed yet a chance to top up.”

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Mark Cooper was happy with a ‘good point’ at Tamworth on Tuesday night as his Yeovil Town side drew 0-0 in a match the saw a controversial red card for Morgan Williams and an injury to Matt Worthington.

Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Josh Perkins following the match, Cooper said his side stood up to a physical Tamworth.

“It’s a tough place to come. You know, when you see the balls going in the box and you know they’re physical, we had to stand up to it. We didn’t really get any protection, and we stood up to it. I thought we were really good, just the only thing missing was that fine little touch. We’ve had a great chance early on, Morgan Williams’ free header from four yards out, and then young Kofi has gone clean through. You know, we’ve had some other bits and pieces. On another night, we win the game comfortably. But listen, we’ll take the point,” he said.

On his side’s attacking efforts, the boss added: “As long as we keep creating chances, I’m more than happy. I think our fans can see we’ve got a team that work their socks off. They have got a brilliant defensive record [and] another clean sheet. and I’m convinced that the players we’ve got will will really hit the straps and start scoring lots of goals.”

Williams was given his marching orders in the 70th minute after a tackle to stop a Tamworth counter attack on the edge of their penalty box and Cooper felt the red was harsh: “[It’s] never a red card. Because, for a red card you have to go with real force, or you’re denying a goal scoring opportunity. Morgan’s come from the side. He’s tried to win the ball. He’s planted his feet in between their guys legs, and he’s gone over. It’s not a red card tackle. I mean, I’ve seen plenty of them, been on the end of them, done plenty myself, that is never a red card. [It’s] not out of control. He’s just mistimed it. He’s put his leg in between there guys legs. He’s not off the floor with two feet, it’s a one-legged tackle. The referee looked to me like he couldn’t wait to get his red card out.”

Matt Worthington was papped on crutches with his a foot in a protective boot and has since posted a video of him rolling his left ankle on the unforgiving 4G surface before kick off

“He just jumped up to get warm and just twisted his ankle on the surface, as their guy did when he came on second half. So there’s about eight players on crutches in there for both teams. So listen, when you take it all into account, it’s a good point.”

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Three points, three goals and a clean sheet saw Yeovil climb to 8th – two points outside the playoffs – and left Mark Cooper ‘really pleased’ with his side’s performance against Wealdstone.

Goals from Brett McGavin, Aaron Jarvis and Ciaran McGuckin saw the Glovers take the points home from Grosvenor Vale, leaving Wealdstone 2nd from bottom.

Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Ian Randall, Mark Cooper said: “I thought we were really good. It was a really organised, structurally good performance, where they always carried a threat at the top of the pitch – so everything we worked on in the week. [I am] really pleased today, we were really good.”

“For us today, it was about trying, trying to get some score, some goals, and then we looked, from the first minute, we looked a real threat. And anyone that was here today would have seen the chances we created, and we could have scored six,” he added.

“They’ve got to be ready to go in, and the boys that came in today did that.”

Cooper made four changes to the side that lost at Chesham last week, with Jarvis, Dylan Morgan and James Plant returning alongside McGuckin in the attack and Matt Worthington coming in for Frank Nouble. The manager made clear that all of his squad have to be ready: “We’ve got a group of four attacking players that have all got a part to play, but trying to find the right combination. Jarvs has been out for three weeks with concussion, and it was a chance to put him back in the team. I spoke to them attacking players to today just said, you’re there competing for three places, and they’ve got to be ready when it’s their turn. They’ve got to be ready to go in, and the boys that came in today did that.”

Jarvis’ goal came from a sumptuous ball into the box from Dom Bernard, and McGavin was in the right place a the right time to head home Jarvis’ cross. Cooper said: “You’d think that I told the players never crossed the ball, wouldn’t you? That’s not really true, but we want to cross the ball from really dangerous areas. And that area there where Dom fed the ball into the six yard box, is a really dangerous xG opportunity, and the making of the goal is delivery. The first goal was a terrifically worked goal. We had lots of play, lots of passes, great ball from Jarvis to the back post, and a good run from Brett. But, we scored some good goals today, and we scored another one that was wrongly disallowed, and could have had some more.”

The Glovers have a quick turn around with a visit to Tamworth on Tuesday and Cooper added he was looking to digest the Wealdstone match before thinking about the trip to his old stomping ground.

“I think it’s important that you’re always trying to pick players that can go again, and it’s we’ve got to think about the 3G, there’ll be some that are not keen on 3G. So, we’ll digest today and then we’ll put a plan in place for Tuesday on Monday.”

Cooper also gave his usual post-match to the club media.

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Manager Mark Cooper has challenged his Yeovil Town players to fight back after the disappointment of their early exit from the FA Cup.

Speaking on Thursday ahead of the trip to Wealdstone in the National League Premier, the Glovers’ boss said he “needed an angry reaction” after admitting it had been a “sombre” week of training since the fourth qualifying round defeat to Chesham United last weekend.

He told BBC Somerset’s Toby Crabb: “It’s been a tough week in terms of analysis, leg work, tactics, you know,  but we just want a reaction. I need an angry reaction, I need a group of players that want to show and we aren’t too far away from the team which played really well against Dagenham & Redbridge a week before. We got a standing ovation after that game, everybody got clapped off and we were the best team in the world.

“The performance from our goalkeeper to the edge of the opposition box (against Chesham) was not bad. I could give you loads of stats and how many times we got safely to the edge of their box, but when we got an attacking positions we did not produce and that’s the hardest part of the game, so we need to solve that. We are not doing anything drastically wrong.

“If we scored every chance we created we’d  be top of the league, but defensively we are really sound. The toughest part of the game is putting the ball in the net, because there are 11 men trying to stop you doing it. We know we need to be better, the players are not daft, we have got some experienced players and they know it is about getting that right.”

The boss expects to have striker Aaron Jarvis, who has missed the matches against Dagenham and Chesham with concussion, and full-back Alex Whittle available for the trip to north London on Saturday. However, he confirmed right-back Michael Smith was still “a few weeks away” from recovering from a hamstring injury.

He also confirmed that Port Vale loanee James Plant is available having not been given permission to play in the FA Cup tie and Dylan Morgan, who was Cup-tied having featured for Weston-super-Mare in the earlier rounds. Forward Harvey Greenslade, who appeared off the bench late in the defeat at Chesham, is also fit to feature having been missing with a shoulder injury since the end of August. 

James Plant, who was unavailable on Chesham last weekend, is available for the trip to Wealdstone. Picture courtesy of Gary Brown.

However, he will be without winger Sam Pearson whose contract was terminated by mutual agreement due to “personal reasons” and defender Raphael Araoye who was recalled from a five-month loan from Bristol City on Friday. Cooper confirmed the Robins had recalled the 6’3″ teenager due to injuries in their first team and said he could be in the squad for their Championship match to Middlesbrough at the weekend.

On Pearson, the Glovers’ boss said: “Sam was a valued member of the squad. He had not done as well this season, but the reason behind that was that he was travelling five hours every day from Cardiff and that had started to affect his welfare, his performances, he was just down, and he just wanted to go and play closer to home. I am sure there will be drama out there that me and him have had a fall out, but we got on great. We had to help him  and his wishes were to be closer to home. When the player is adamant that he wants to go, we have a duty of care to the player.  Sam’s had that issue before where he’s he’s been homesick and he’s wanted to to go back and we have to appreciate that.”

On Araoye, he added: “It was not a mutual decision. Bristol City called him back, (Academy Director) Brian Tinnion called me yesterday and was really apologetic but said they have got some injuries and and Raph could be involved in the first-team at the weekend. That is fantastic for the boy and it shows you what a loan does for the younger lads, they come out and play some senior football and and do pretty well, and they’re ready to go back and compete for first-team place.”

Cooper said that he was confident he would be backed in the transfer market to bring in a forward player if he could find the right candidate, but hailed the form of on-loan Rotherham United striker Ciaran McGuckin, who has scored twice in his last three appearances.

Cooper said: “If there is a player there that can improve us we will look at it. I know if I went to the chairman (Martin Hellier) and said ‘I have found this player who is going to get us 20 goals before the end of the season’, he’d say  ‘let’s do it’ – but I haven’t found that player and it’s a difficult part of the season to be able to do it. Of course we are looking but I want really one of the other boys that are here to catch fire. McGuckin is on fire, not just with his goals, but it’s performances as well, and we need one of the others to come to the party now. They have got real quality, they are great lads who work their socks off. I don’t think any anybody could label our team for not trying, we give everything we’ve got and that’s a must, but we need one of those boys to catch fire (in front of goal).”

This weekend Yeovil travel to a Wealdstone side which sit second from bottom of the National League Premier Division table having won just once all season. However, the Stones did progress to the First Round Proper of the FA Cup with a 4-1 home win over Gosport Borough, who play two divisions below them in the Southern League Premier Division South.

The Glovers go in to the match in tenth in the table and with the seventh-highest away record in the division having picked up three wins and a draw in their opening six games on the road.

Cooper said: “The last time we played in the league (the 1-0 home win over Dagenham & Redbridge) we were exceptional and I am sure Wealdstone will have looked at that performance and they will know it is going to be a tough game for them. If we play like we did there, we have a chance.

“But bear in mind three players came out of the team (which played Chesham) from the team which beat Dagenham. James Plant could not play because Port Vale would not let him play in the Cup, Michael Smith was injured and Dylan Morgan could not play. That is three big misses and we get them all back this weekend, so let’s see.”

On the weekend’s opponents, he added: “They have a real culture of being heavily possession based and trying to dominate the opposition with the ball, so if you get your out-of-possession stuff wrong against them they can really hurt you. We like to get at teams when we do not have the ball, but we will have to get whatever we do spot on against Wealdstone because they are technically very good. They cannot afford to go and get the best striker, they have to have a real way of working and they have done it for a number of years now. They are very easy on the eye, so it will be a tough game but we want to react and put in a good performance.”

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Mark Cooper’s frustration with his Yeovil Town side was clear in his post-match interview following this afternoon’s FA Cup defeat. The Glovers tripped at the first hurdle of this season’s competition, losing 1-0 to National League South side Chesham United.

Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Chris Spittles, Cooper bemoaned his side’s attacking play on the day and in previous weeks. It was another game of keep-ball from the Glovers, but no cutting-edge.

Cooper said: “Full credit Chesham, they hung in there, didn’t they? We had all the play – dominated the game. We had loads of play around the edge of their box, but we didn’t get opportunities to kill it off.  We were really sloppy at the top of the pitch today. We didn’t take care in and around the penalty area. We should be scoring at least two or three today.”

Expanding on his side’s woes in front of goal, he added: “We haven’t scored enough goals for our play. That’s another game where we haven’t [scored]. We scored one last week and we dominated the game, we had loads of chances – we scored one. We scored one the week before, scored none the week before that, we scored none today, you know. So we can only do so much.

“We get the ball safely from the our goalkeeper, and we play nice, and we get the ball to the edge of their box and it breaks down, or we pick the wrong option, or we miss the target, or we smash it straight at the keeper. I think there’s one great bit of play where Josh Sims has got an open goal from five yards, and he hits it straight at the goalie, just roll it in the corner with a bit of composure. So, really frustrating. 

“we are really nice to watch from tee to green, but once we get on the dance floor, not quite enough”

Yeovil started the day with Ciaran McGuckin, Josh Sims, Frank Nouble and Jordan Young as the attacking quartet, and were able to introduce Sonny Blu Lo-Everton and Sam Pearson in the second half, but still couldn’t find a way through. Expanding yet further on his side’s woes in front of goals, Cooper really mixed his metaphors…

“If you look at our forward line, we’ve got Josh, Sims, who played 20-odd games on the Premier League, got Frank [Nouble], who’s played in the Premier League. We’ve got Ciaran McGuckin, who’s a young lad, scored two in two for us, and got we’ve Jordan Young, who was player of the year last year. So, you know, we expect. It’s not just the forwards, because we have set pieces, we had free kicks, shots from the edge of the box, but the forward boys have got to start scoring.  I’ve said to them in there, I can’t keep defending you if we keep missing chances and keep taking the wrong shot or finding the goalkeeper. Your job in the team is to score great goals. And we are really nice to watch from tee to green, but once we get on the dance floor, not quite enough.”

The set piece winner came deep into stoppage time through Jack Cawley’s header after the Chesham man rose highest above Raphael Araoye to break Yeovil hearts.

“We give them a free header. Our centre-half young Raph [Araoye], he’s coming out of U21s football, you have to learn that you have to head that ball. You can’t let your man jump above you, because that one action means that we’re out the FA Cup and not going back to a replay. So it’s great for Raph, because he has to learn that that can’t happen. And I’m sure Bristol City will be delighted, because that’s part of his learning. But, it doesn’t help us at the moment.

“[I’ve got] no qualms about the overall performance. We looked comfortable, just not ruthless enough in front of goal, and that’s been the case all season,” he added.

When asked what the next steps are to find the goals and if he needs to find the ‘devilment’ in them, Cooper said: “We either do that, or we say to the chairman, right, we need to bring some more attacking players in, because the ones we’re not we’re not quite firing. But I’ve said to them, I’ll stick with them, we keep working with them and try and make them better. And that’s your job as a coach.”

On a positive, Cooper said he expected to have Aaron Jarvis back next weekend, but that he could have been back for today: “We missed out on the protocol by 12 hours. You know, [I’m] not sure we did everything properly. We should be having Jarv coming off the bench today and winning us the game, but we didn’t, and we’ll have to wait until next week.”

Cooper finished off by setting the bar for the next few games, and promised a hard week of training for his team.

“Now it’s going to be a tough week for the boys. They’ll be in all week, and we have three games now, Wealdstone, Tamworth and Maidenhead that I want to go and take a real big points haul to propel us up the table.”

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Manager Mark Cooper will take nothing for granted as he takes his Yeovil Town side to Chesham United determined not to become the victim of an FA Cup giant-killing this weekend.

The boss was in the stands in Buckinghamshire as the National League South side booked their place in the competition’s fourth qualfiying round with a 4-0 win over Bishop’s Cleeve in a replay on Tuesday night.

Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Jack Killah ahead of the tie, Cooper said: “I enjoyed the game, it was a competitive game, Bishop’s Cleeve had some chances but Chesham were good. They are two leagues above Bishop’s Cleeve and I think that showed in the end, they have some good players that we came up against last year in the National League South, so we are expecting a tough game.

“The rules of the FA Cup are that you cannot take any team lightly, you have to go there and play well. If we turn up and think (this is going to be easy) we are going to be in trouble. We have done the same amount of preparation for this game as we have any other game. They are not that many places below us in the football pyramid, so we have to be right at it and we have to play really well to win.”

He added: “We want to pay full respect to Chesham, they have got through some rounds to get to this stage and we have to respect that. I would not disrespect them by giving people minutes for the sake of it, we are going to pick the strongest team we can. We want to get to the third round and pull a Premier League team and we have to dream, but I am sure Chesham are doing the same. They got promoted last year, they are brilliant, lovely people and they got me a cup of tea and a bit of cake the other night, so we will give them our full respect.”

Mark Cooper is hoping to have forward Harvey Greenslade back in the squad at Chesham. Picture courtesy of Gary Brown.

The Glovers’ boss has vowed to play his strongest team and hopes to have full-backs Alex Whittle and Michael Smith available for the game. Whittle missed last weekend’s 1-0 home win over Dagenham and Redbridge with a shoulder injury suffered in the goalless draw at Sutton United two-and-a-half weeks ago, whilst Smith came off at half-time against Dagenham.

Cooper confirmed Whittle has trained this week whilst Smith had a scan on a hamstring injury and, if the results came back clear, he would be available for the Cup tie. He is also hoping to have forward Harvey Greenslade in the squad for the first time since he suffered a shoulder injury at the end of August.

Striker Aaron Jarvis missed last weekend with concussion trained on Thursday and the Glovers are waiting to see if he suffers any ill effects before deciding whether he is available to face Chesham. Cooper said that the striker was working through the FA’s concussion protocols – you can hear him explain them in the video on the club’s YouTube channel, see below.

One definite change from the side which started the win over Dagenham will be Dylan Morgan who is cup tied having played in this year’s competition’s earlier rounds whilst on loan at Weston-super-Mare. Fellow loanees goalkeeper Will Buse, defender Jordan Thomas and full-back Corey Koerner are also cup tied, but were unlikely to feature at this stage even if they were not.

There was no question in Thursday’s press conference about whether Yeovil’s own loanees, goalkeeper Ollie Wright (Southampton), striker Ciaran McGuckin (Rotherham United), wideman James Plant (Port Vale), would be allowed to play by their parent clubs. One assumes Wright’s appearance before the media on Thursday means he is available, but goalscorer McGuckin and Plant were both influential in the win over Dagenham.

Rotherham United loanee Ciaran McGuckin has two goals in his last two matches for Yeovil Town. Picture courtesy of Gary Brown.

If you ever wondered what playing in the FA Cup means, Cooper was able to remember his first match in the competition. It also happened to be his first professional start in the second round of the competition for Exeter City against Maidstone United in December 1989, he recalls scoring with a header in a 1-1 draw with the Grecians winning the replay four days later to make the third round. Ironically Maidstone had put Yeovil out in the previous round.

On the competition, the Glovers’ boss said: “I grew up in an era when you were watching the television coverage at 9am when the whole build-up to the final started. There were interviews with players in the hotels, it was terrific and you would be mesmerised by it from 9am until 7pm – and then you would get your ball and go and try and pretend you had just played in the game.

“At our level it can be the lifeblood of a football club in terms of the revenue it brings. The further you progress the more money you get and there is always that dream of pulling Manchester United or one of the other big boys which can transform the fortunes of your club for the future, that is why everyone is desperate to have a good run in the FA Cup. It would be nice if we could be sat here in January talking about an away day at Old Trafford, but we have got some work to do starting with a really good team on Saturday.”

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Yeovil Town manager Mark Cooper‘s red card in the dying seconds of a 1-0 defeat at Oldham Athletic last month has been overturned, the club have confirmed.

The boss was sent to the Boundary Park stands by referee Paul Marsden for his complaints after a loud penalty appeal for a foul on defender Morgan Williams inside the box.

In his  interview after the game, Cooper’s assistant Chris Todd said the red had been shown for “persistent moaning” at the match officials.

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Yeovil Town manager Mark Cooper believes that another performance like the one his side showed on their last outing at Huish Park will see them end their winless run of five matches.

The Glovers host Dagenham & Redbridge, who sit two points and two places above them in the National League Premier table, on Saturday, having drawn 1-1 at against Aldershot Town at Huish Park last weekend.

Speaking ahead of the match, the boss said: “We played really well, creating some good chances and we were committed and I thought we deserved to win the game. If you are scraping 1-0 wins and not playing well, you are going to start losing game, but if you are performing like we are, with the spirit and commitment we have, we can go and win lots of games.

“It is just another game for us, you cannot win every game and you go through periods as a team where you do not win some games. It is (the media’s) job to make a thing out of it and it is my job to get the team to get performances and if we do that, the wins will come. But we are still picking up points and that is the main thing.”

Cooper said that full-back Alex Whittle was suffering from a shoulder injury sustained in the goalless draw at Sutton United and could be a doubt for the weekend. However, Bristol City loanee Raphael Araoye is back training with the side having been missing with a dead leg in recent matches. The towering defender played and scored for his parent club’s Under-21s on Monday.

Forward Harvey Greenslade is also back in training having been missing since the end of August with a shoulder injury. There was no update given on the fitness of either full-back Michael Smith (hamstring) or midfielder Josh Sims (knee), who were both involved in the pre-match warm-ups but not in the squad against Aldershot.

James Plant puts a cross in. Picture courtesy of Gary Brown.

Cooper spoke highly of on-loan Port Vale winger James Plant, who joined on loan until January last weekend, and came on as a second half substitute for Whittle last weekend.

The manager said: “When a chance to get a player of James’ quality at our level, you have to try and get him. We have been chasing for a long time and we got the nod we could do it and he showed in his performance what an asset he can be. We had another young (loan player) in Ciaran (McGuckin) at the top of the pitch, who was very good and scored a great goal and set up two other brilliant chances for the other forwards.

“He has pace and he carries the ball, the other wide players we have are intricate players, but James is a runner and he complements the other players we have. We has two foot and can play on both sides either at full-back or down the wing, so he is a great acquisition.”

Dagenham fielded a much-changed side as they competed in their first outing in the National League’s pointless new competition designed as a fig leaf for the footballing authorities’ willingness to give in to the Premier League’s complaints of fixture congestion and scrap replays from the FA Cup first round onwards.

They drew 5-5 against Tottenham Hotspur Under-21s before ‘losing’ on penalties for an additional bonus point due to the ridiculous rules of a ridiculous new competition which benefits no-one other than the game’s richest sides.

Two players who have featured in the Daggers’ first-team, defender Christian N’Guessan and striker Reece Grego-Cox, both went off injured in the match. On Thursday, the Londoners announced the signing of Peterborough United’s transfer-listed central defender Romoney Crichlow, who has featured once for Posh this season having started last season as a highly-rated centre-back.

Cooper is not giving too much credence to the visitors’ exertions in midweek and predicting a tough match against a side which drew 1-1 at home to Solihull Moors last weekend, but have picked up just six points from their six matches on the road this season.

The Glovers’ boss said: “They changed a lot of their team and give minutes to some of the boys that needed it. Some of their starting players played as well, but I do not expect them to be any weaker or stronger. They have some good, experienced players and they can cause problems on their day with Junior Morais and Josh Umerah up front, they are a handful at this level.”