Mark Cooper hails unbeaten Forest Green after climbing into play-off places

Posted Sunday, September 23, 2018 by PA

Mark Cooper heaped praise on his players after Forest Green’s 1-0 victory over Crawley saw them become the last remaining unbeaten side in Sky Bet League Two.

Reuben Reid’s deflected strike in the 70th minute, his fourth of the season, was enough to see off Crawley who had Joe McNerney sent off late on.

Cooper felt his side thoroughly deserved the victory and is proud of his side’s unbeaten start to the season.

“It’s a fantastic achievement for the club to be this far into a season and to be unbeaten, so full credit to the players,” Cooper said.

“For the most part we were very dominant, another good performance, a clean sheet but we should have had more goals, but that’s the way it’s going.

“We just have to wait until those chances turn into goals and we’ll definitely be on the right side of a good scoreline.”

The Rovers boss also believes his side have started to earn respect from their opponents.

“I think you have to give the players credit because teams have a decision to make,” Cooper added.

“Do they attack? Or do they sit back and hope we make a mistake and get a goal? That’s respect to the players, they’ve earnt it.

“Crawley decided to sit back and get numbers behind the ball, typical that they’ve been coached by an Italian, difficult to play through, no gaps but we got the job done.”

Crawley boss Gabriele Cioffi had no complaints with the result and felt Forest Green deserved the victory, although he was still content with his team’s performance.

“Honestly, they deserved it,” Cioffi admitted. “If we came back with one point it was a success, not because of the effort or tactical mistake, don’t forget we’ve only worked together for two weeks.

“I’m happy with the performance of the lads and the heart but we have to work. We tried to put on the idea we had but I trust them.”

Crawley were dealt a early blow after losing defender Mark Connolly to injury after just five minutes. The Red Devils will also be without McNerney, who will be suspended for the visit of Yeovil.

“You plan one game, you have some idea and Connolly has an important job so then you have to make a sub then you have two subs and everything is uphill.

“My only concern is that we get him recovered but we’ll find out more on Monday.”

Forest Green moved into the play-off places and extended their unbeaten run to nine matches in League Two, while Crawley dropped to 15th place.