Source: Northern_Echo
Early end to play-off bid is frustrating for Cooper
Darlington's dip in form has brought a premature end to their battle to achieve a play-off place, a turn of events that Mark Cooper admits he did not see coming.[LNB] His side put together a run of only one defeat in 19 league and cup games, but that run came to a shuddering halt a fortnight ago when Quakers lost to Altrincham.[LNB] That was in Darlington's most recent match at The Northern Echo, since when they have lost twice more, though there was also a victory at Grimsby Town.[LNB] That night, however, despite winning, Cooper's men were not at their best, and he wants to see an end to the poor run today when Bath City provide the opposition at the Arena.[LNB] "The run's surprised me," admitted Cooper. "You could see the Crawley performance last week coming, you might not expect to get much but you still look at it as a bit of a bonus game.[LNB] "But I certainly expected to beat Altrincham and Kettering and to get a result against Newport.[LNB] "I've said to them that they've got seven games left, I want to win at least five and I want to win at Wembley. So let's see how they handle that.[LNB] "I don't really want to heavily criticise the players in public, but people have seen the results and performances for themselves.[LNB] "I want a professional performance on Saturday. I don't want it to be easy for teams to score against us, I want us to play some football and score some goals.[LNB] "We just want to finish off our season as well as we can."[LNB] Bath, in contrast to Quakers, are in decent form, having put together a decent run of one defeat in eight games which has edged them up the table to tenth.[LNB] That puts them one ahead of Darlington, who are out of the play-off race due to being 11 points off the pace with seven matches to play.[LNB] Cooper, however, points out: "There's an awful lot to play for still. I keep saying it, but the players are out of contract and so am I. They should be doing everything they can to make sure it's impossible for me not to offer them a contract. Plus there's places to play for in the Trophy final. I won't hesitate to take some out of the team if they are not doing it.[LNB] "We've got 16 or 17 players available for the final so they've got to do what they can to get into the team. Plus, the young lads are playing well too, so it might be a case that by the end of the season I could stick a couple of them in. I might even stick myself in the team![LNB] "We've got to make decisions on who we might keep. It wouldn't just be an experiment either because they might be better than what we already have in the first team.[LNB] "Look at Dan Burn. Who would have thought what would happen when he first came into the team a few months ago"[LNB] Burn has been watched by a posse of Premier League scouts in recent weeks, with Stoke City the latest to track his progress, while Everton's David Moyes was in the stands at Newport County on Tuesday.[LNB] The 18-year-old centre-back will be the centre of attention today, though Cooper is concerned his players' thoughts are already on Wembley.[LNB] Darlington end the season in the FA Trophy final against Mansfield Town, though the manager believes too many of his players are not focused on league action.[LNB] "I think too many of them have got one eye on the final and are thinking about having a nice day out and waving to their family from the pitch at Wembley.[LNB] "They're not concentrating one the league, which is why they have thrown away a chance of making the play-offs. It's understandable but it's not acceptable.[LNB] "I'm limited as to what I can do about it until the end of the season. I've made my mind up over most of the players but there are still one or two I'm thinking about.[LNB] Bath have already visited the Arena this season, losing 4-1 in January in the second round of the Trophy.[LNB] One of the scorers that day was Paul Arnison, who is on nine yellow cards.[LNB] One more would trigger a two-match ban.[LNB]
