Cooper 'proud' of Mansfield Town's performance in Walsall draw

Richard Cooper said he felt 'proud' of his Mansfield Town squad as they drew 1-1 with Walsall.
Richard Cooper.Richard Cooper.
Richard Cooper.

The caretaker boss picked up a point in his first game in the hotseat following Graham Coughlan's exit in midweek.

"I'm really proud of them, proud of their effort," Cooper told BBC Radio Nottingham.

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"They showed a lot of togetherness which was important after the last couple of days.

"As a group they came together and put a good shift in. I'm really proud of them.

"We thought the best form of going after Walsall today was to attack them and get some forward players on the pitch," Cooper added.

"I was really, really pleased with the work we've done in a short space of time. It was a great performance."

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Nicky Maynard opened the scoring before Elijah Adebayo levelled.

"He's showed his composure and experience not to panic, especially when you've got a keeper running out at you," Cooper said of Maynard's finish.

"He kept his marbles and put the ball in the back of the net. He was superb today.

"The pleasing thing for me was that we kept going and had chances to score after that."

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Cooper added he was impressed with the way that the club came together this week following Coughlan's departure.

"We had to," he said. "The reason I'm here is because, unfortunately, Graham's lost his job and, out of respect to him we've got to get on with it.

"It's the nature of the business, we all know that.

"We have to rally them players but they've rallied themselves."

MATCH REPORT: Stags 1 Walsall 1