Cooper To Keep Faith With Familiar Faces

Hartlepool United boss Neale Cooper has resisted calls to freshen up his team, saying he will stick with his first team players when Pools travel to Tranmere tomorrow.

The manager came under fire after his side slumped to a home defeat against relegation candidates Chesterfield last weekend, but has decided to stick with familiar faces after watching his reserve team players in action on Tuesday.

Cooper travelled to Scunthorpe to watch the second string face the Iron, but was less than impressed with their performance as they slumped to a 4-1 defeat at Glandford Park.

''I was already angry following the weekend when I went to watch the reserves on Tuesday and they didn't cheer me up either. I told them beforehand that I wanted to play some of them in the first team.

''I wanted to see them prove themselves to me and show what they can do. But they didn't, and I told them that. I need better from the boys who are pushing to be involved.'' he told the Mail.

Cooper says he will keep faith with his first team stars as Pools travel to Prenton Park looking to turn round an awful run of form that has seen them win just once in their last ten outings.

''So now it's up to the first-team lads to bounce back from last week. They need to do that and I want to see a massive performance tomorrow.''

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