Source: Northern_Echo
Cooper sounds warning
Darlington manager Mark Cooper will not underestimate Southport as the part-timers visit the Northern Echo Darlington Arena for the first time today.[LNB] The Quakers have had mixed results against the semi-professional sides in Blue Square Bet Premier League a competent 3-0 win against Forest Green Rovers contrasting with the humiliating 2-2 draw at Eastbourne Borough, who were down to nine men and fielding a midfielder in goal for much of the game.[LNB] Cooper warned yesterday: They've done very well to come out of the Conference North last year. It's a tough league to get out of. They'll come and want to play at the Arena, the same as any team.[LNB] They have a clever manager in Liam Watson and they've got some decent players, so we'll give them the same respect we give every team we play.[LNB] We'll prepare for two days on how we're going to play and if we can get our tempo right and the crowd gets behind us I know it's sometimes difficult at any level when things aren't going well then I'm sure we'll get the result we want.[LNB] We play Southport at home on Saturday then we're at York on Monday night, two games that gives us a chance to get points. We want to win our home games, so if we can beat Southport it sets us up nicely for a derby against York, where we'll be looking to get another three points.[LNB] Cooper altered his formation on Tuesday from 4-3-3 to 4-4-2 to frustrate visitors Luton Town, a tactic which paid off, Quakers drawing 2-2 with a team Cooper believes will finish in the top two of the league.[LNB] And it is expected that Cooper will revert to the attacking formation which has started to bear fruit in recent weeks.[LNB] He said: Whenever we play with a tempo we're a force to be reckoned with. When we picked the tempo up on Tuesday and got the crowd behind us we were good, and it just shows what can be achieved if the crowd get behind you.[LNB] We've shown we can mix it with the best teams in the league, we just have to make sure that when we get teams on the rack we finish them off and don't give them chances to get back into the game, which is what we've done too many times.[LNB] I think if you finish above Luton you're either going to win the league or finish in the play-offs. There is no reason why we can't start believing we can finish above them. We have to make sure we're doing our jobs at the right times and when we get in front we have to hang on.[LNB] Cooper took the frustrations of their draw at Eastbourne out on his team, giving them double training sessions.[LNB] And he was still not satisfied with their performance despite beating Forest Green 3-0 a fortnight ago.[LNB] His concerns were brought to bear a week later when his side threw away a 2-0 lead over Bath City to draw 2-2 at Twerton Park.[LNB] The former Kettering boss, who won the Conference North with the Poppies, hopes his players have learned from their mistakes.[LNB] He said: If I'm being really conservative I think we're six points short of where we should be.[LNB] We should have won at Barrow, we missed a penalty and totally dominated the game. We should have won at Bath and Eastbourne.[LNB] There's six points, maybe even more, which would put us in a fantastic position. I'm sure there are other teams saying the same so we'll take what we've got and if we take three points today, everything is rosy again.[LNB] There are too many draws for my liking but it's better than losing and it keeps the run going. It maintains that feeling that we won't be beaten, we can't be beaten, and that's what we're trying to transmit to the players.[LNB] Cooper has no fresh injury concerns but Ian Miller, Tommy Wright, Michael Brough and Gareth Waite are still missing through injury, while it is expected that Jamie Chandler will return to the starting line-up.[LNB]
