Source: Northern_Echo
Cooper lines up two more
WITH only four days to go before the start of the season, Darlington manager Mark Cooper was last night working on two more transfers as he bids to make the finishing touches to his squad.[LNB] He wants to bring in a rightsided defender as well as striker Richard Offiong on loan from Carlisle United.[LNB] Should both arrive at The Northern Echo Arena they would take the number of additions since Cooper's appointment up to seven, but his first signing, Michael Brough, undergoes knee surgery today and will be out for at least six weeks.[LNB] Midfielder Brough, who can also play in defence, sustained an injury during pre-season and his absence leaves Cooper short of defensive cover.[LNB] We need another defender because we've only got five available, said the manager.[LNB] We need a right-sided defender, someone who can play centre-half or right-back, because if anything happens to Paul Arnison we've got no cover.[LNB] We are trying to bring someone in for Saturday.[LNB] We've got two targets in mind, we're just trying to see which one we can get, and I'm confident of getting one of them.[LNB] Brough is having an operation on his knee and it's been a big blow to us because he was our best player in the games he played.[LNB] He would've been one of the first names on the team sheet because he's a warrior, he knows the game.[LNB] He played the Carlisle game and was fine afterwards, he had no complaints. But he went for warm-down the next day and his knee swelled up.[LNB] Yet he can't remember doing anything to his knee in the game.[LNB] We don't know what the problem is until the surgeon has a look. There's a lot of swelling and it won't go down.[LNB] He could be out for anything from six to 15 weeks.[LNB] Offiong played the first half of Saturday's draw at Gretna and Cooper expects him to join Darlington before Saturday's opener at home to Newport County.[LNB] Cooper said: He hasn't signed yet, we're trying to do a deal with Carlisle. We can get him in on loan and he would give us another option with his pace to stretch a game.[LNB] That's something we probably haven't got in the squad at the moment.[LNB] He is very quick and would get people on the edge of their seats. Chris Senior is lively but you wouldn't say he was electrifyingly quick.[LNB] It would probably be a short-term loan to start with and then see how it goes.[LNB]
