Cooper: It is a game we should win

Yeovil Town manager Mark Cooper said his side should have come away from today’s Boxing Day fixture against Eastleigh with more than a point.

The Glovers looked to have snatched the win when defender Morgan Williams headed them in to a 2-1 lead with 89 minutes played, but they conceded a goal three minutes in to second half stoppage time and had to settle for a draw.

Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Mark Stillman after the game, Cooper said: “We played lots of good football, we had to deal with a lot of direct balls forward which you have to do against Eastleigh, but we scored two great goals but we did not see it out against two balls in to the box which we did not defend.

“Up until the last 15 ,minutes I thought we dealt with them okay. They scored (their first goal) with a long throw-in which we should do better with and then a hopeful ball forward and we did not track the runner. When we go 2-1 up we have to see it out, we have to have a more character than that. To play as well as that and not win is really frustrating, I thought we looked a really good football team.”

Yeovil took the lead when new signing Sean McGurk, signed on a one-month loan deal from Swindon Town on Christmas Eve, opened his account on 49 minutes, but they were pegged back ten minutes from time when Eastleigh defender Lloyds Humphries headed home.

Bristol Rovers’ loanee Kofi Shaw picked up the sponsors’ Man of the Match and at the time of writing is the leader in the Gloverscast poll – cast your vote here – after an all-action display. The Gas appointed former Brighton & Hove Albion defender Ingo Calderon on Boxing Day morning and Cooper admits he does not know how that will impact on Shaw’s loan. The 18-year-old joined at the end of October with the deal billed as “until January“.

The Glovers’ boss said: “Kofi is a young player and you have to pick the right times to bring him in and out of the side. He is still a baby, he has just turned 18,  but he is Bristol Rovers’ player, they have just appointed a new manager and we will wait to see if they want to bring him back to assess him but hopefully we can keep him.”

McGurk was put straight in to the starting line-up having joined just before Christmas following the departure of winger Dylan Morgan to National League South leaders Torquay United. But, asked whether he expected to have further new faces before the New Year’s Day trip to Forest Green Rovers, Cooper said he was doubtful.

He said: “We probably will not sign anyone because of registrations over Christmas period. We have let some players go and people have a bit of a meltdown, but we are trying to improve the squad and that is just part of football, that is evolution, you have to keep progressing. If you look at Sean McGurk’s quality today, he is an improvement and you have to keep doing that so we can keep competing at the top end of the table.”