Spireites out to ‘pester’ teams

The centre half made his first appearance of the season when he stepped off the bench to replace Ryan Edwards with half an hour to go in the 2-2 draw at Rochdale.

Marc Richards put the Spireites ahead before Andrew Tutte levelled the scores. Scott Hogan gave the home side the lead but Gary Roberts rescued a point for Paul Cook’s side.

Cooper said the defiant attitude shown by the players proves they will be a match for anyone.

He said: “If anyone was going to score it was going to be us. It just proves how fit the lads are, we’re in great shape and willingly pester teams.

“I think it’s great testament to the lads’ fitness and the way we’re applying ourselves at the minute.

“People can see how we want to play and sometimes teams will have their fair share of luck. But I think the majority of time we’ll dominate teams and score goals.”

A side strain had kept him from featuring in the opening day win at Bury. He was an unused substitute in the games against Leeds United and Cheltenham.

Cooper added: “There’s no substitute for playing games. That’s all I want to do now and hopefully it will put me in good stead.”