'A Game We Want To Win' - Cooper Speaks Pre-Walsall
The Premier League Foxes head to Poundland Bescot Stadium to tackle Mat Sadler's Sky Bet League 2 outfit for a 7:45pm BST kick-off on Tuesday, hoping to seal safe passage into the fourth round of the competition.
Ahead of that test against the Saddlers, Cooper spoke to the media to offer an update on his team selection considerations and to expand on his analysis of Saturday's 1-1 draw with Everton at King Power Stadium.
'An experienced and strong line-up'
Cooper will naturally consider making changes to his XI for the trip to Walsall this week, with a Premier League visit to Arsenal next on the schedule the following weekend.
One player who could feature is Portuguese full-back Ricardo Pereira, who the Manager was eager to credit for his professionalism. City's No.21 has not featured in the league this term, but was involved in the 4-0 win over Tranmere Rovers.
"Ricky’s an excellent pro," Cooper told reporters. "A very, very important player in the dressing room and in the culture. He definitely leads by example. He’ll want to play games but he knows that he’s in a competition, like every other player is.
"Sometimes you’ve got the shirt, got the nod, and other times, you haven’t. We’re in a really strong position at right-back and whoever we play, it’s all good.
"With regards to Tuesday, we’ll see the effects of Saturday physically and then we’ll decide what the right plan is. It’s a game we want to win. It’s a game where the team we put out will be an experienced and strong one. Whether we decide to make changes, or go with players who have been playing in the league, it’ll be an experienced team for a game we want to win."
'We deserved no more than a point'
Cooper also elaborated on his post-match comments after Saturday's 1-1 draw with Everton. The Manager was not happy with his side's performance in the first half, but found more reason for optimism in the second period at a rain-lashed King Power Stadium.
"We definitely were the stronger team in the second half," he explained. "We were nowhere near the level in the first half. It would be wrong to try and say that it was something else and the players wouldn’t want that as well.
"We wanted to take the game to Everton. We wanted to attack the game and we did everything but that to be honest. We didn’t move the ball quick enough, we didn’t play forward quick enough.
"When we did get it forward, we didn’t have intensity and really threaten Everton’s backline enough. If you don’t do that, you’re not going to be a threat on any opponent’s goal. Without the ball, we were second best in duels, in races, on second balls. We were deservedly losing the game.
"The players knew that – and I told them as well – and to be fair, when you play like that, you can go under and hide and the game can become even worse. Or you can do what we did and we ran a bit more, fought a bit more.
"We won more duels and tackles and things like that. Yes, they were going to be a threat on the counter attack and they are anyway with the likes of [Dominic] Calvert-Lewin… they’ve got some good players with experience.
"But I felt like we were pushing and showing the right intent in the game. Obviously, Stephy [Mavididi] had a big impact in the second half. We weren’t creating loads of chances, but I felt like chance would come through territory.
"We ended up getting set-pieces and scoring from one. After that, I thought we would go on and win. We were looking for that second goal and we finished stronger, but only managed to get the point.
"When I look at it, it’s a game and result which should have been better, but the way we played in the first half and the way the game panned out, it could have been worse. We deserved no more than a point."