Mark Cooper has said that he “hit the post” on a number of occasions trying to bring in a defender this week.
With only Finn Cousin-Dawson fit and available as a natural centre back, Dom Bernard and Charlie Cooper have been filling in and after Saturday’s game against Southend the manager said he’d be working to bring in a defender.
Ryan McLean has joined from Wimbledon, but he’s very much an attacker and Cooper explained how his last couple of days have gone in the transfer search.
Speaking to BBC Radio Somerset’s Josh Perkins he said;
“[Ryan] met us today on the coach, he gives us an outlet with frightening pace, on one of the sides,
He’s coming back from an injury, but he’ll be good for us because he’s rapid.
Of course, we wanted a centre back, but, I’ve spent two and a half days, non stop, trying to get one, I’ve hit the post so many times.
The thing is people don’t want to let their best players go, or their good players go at this stage of the season.
We’ll keep looking, but no-one in tonight.”
Cooper confirmed that Ciaran McGuckin is missing following his early departure from Saturday’s game and admits that the fixture against table topping Barnet is something of a free hit.
“Listen, we know all too well the pressure off being at the top of the table and having to win, if you don’t win everyone says you’re having a wobble.
So, we have to try and use that, where we are at the minute in terms of bodies that we haven’t got – we aren’t able to play our free flowing stuff as well as we can, we have to dig in and play against a really powerful team.”
Well, he did tell us how it was going to be!
We might as well have stayed at home & conceded the game.
He does realise he’s got a right back out on loan playing week in week out (which he signed)? Absolutely bizarre requirement policy
It did baffle me a bit Benji that we haven’t recalled Thomas from the English Riviera. We need everyone who can be, available and ready to go. He’s match fit and it can’t be he’s not good enough for a stint in NL – we have someone from lower down the regional pyramid in the squad….for crying out loud!!
Like most of the defence this season, Smith has been asked to play Saturday-Tuesday-Saturday, and like Whittle, Wannell, Williams, he gets injured with no back-up to slot in.
So why, when we have “empty chair x2-3” in the last 2-3 games have we not recalled OUR contracted player in a position where we just might need it?
Our rotation policy seems to be: “X is injured, again, so Z has to go again”.