Manager Mark Cooper praised the work-rate of his Yeovil Town team as they were held to a goalless draw at home to Altrincham this afternoon.
The hosts came closest to breaking the deadlock at Huish Park when full-back Michael Smith saw his chip come back off the underside of the crossbar in the second half, but it was a fourth blank in front of goal for the Glovers.
Following a disappointing performance in the 1-0 defeat against Solihull Moors four days earlier where Cooper questioned the commitment of his players, the boss was far happier with their endeavour against Altrincham.
Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Chris Spittles after the game, the boss said: “I thought we looked solid, aggressive, I think that is the best all-round performance we have given this season. I asked for a performance and I thought first half we were really good, we controlled large parts of the game and picked the right times to play forward. The only bit that was missing was a little bit of quality when we got one-v-one in the wide areas to create that chance on goal.
“As a team we defended really well, but that output and effort has to be a minimum for us. If we had played like that against Solihull the other night we would have won the game. It is pretty sobering for the boys, they can see that if they do give everything, we can more than match an Altrincham side which was in the play-offs in this division last season.
“The work-rate, the effort was just incredible, the boys covered 13-14k today and that has to be the minimum for us and if we can do that every game we will be a match for a lot of teams.”
Sonny Blu Lo-Everton was handed his first start of the new season and came close to opening the scoring early in the first half when he warmed the palms of visiting keeper Ethan Ross, and Cooper was pleased with the mobility of his midfield.
He said: “We set up a little differently with three midfield players. We wanted mobility in the middle of the pitch and we one a lot of those one-v-one duels.
“We wanted energy and mobility today, we knew it was going to be a running game today and the midfield players all brought that. It is important we have that in them midfield.
“The players have given everything, covered a lot of distance, won a few duels and looked really solid and that is a start for us. We have lost four, won three and drawn one now and that is a really good clean sheet for us and we just have to add that bit of quality now. I thought we played forward well at times and picked the right times to break forward.”
A fantastic run and chip from Smith with 76 minutes gone was the closest either side came to breaking the deadlock and Cooper was full of praise for the Northern Irishman who he described as “a fantastic professional.”
He revealed the full-back, who turned 36 earlier this month, had been suffering with dizziness at half-time which eventually led to him being substituted with a minute of normal time remaining.
The manager said: “He was a bit dizzy at half-time but he wanted to stay on and I think that run and shot finished him off! It was just a shame it did not drop under the crossbar, that would have given us a deserved three points.”
He’s talking nonsense. Time to go. COOPER OUT.
Agreed
I don’t get the Cooper out comments. We’ve gone up a league and we’re mid-table after nine games. I think quite a few commenters said at the end of last season that they’d be happy with mid-table this season. Well that’s exactly where we are and in my opinion there’s nothing wrong with that. Of course, like everybody else, I hope we end up higher than mid-table but there’s still plenty of time to do that.