Moore calls on Cooper to restore the balance

Oct 26 2007 by Nick Hilton, Liverpool Daily Post

RONNIE MOORE looks to new arrival Kevin Cooper to restore balance to his Tranmere side and help them return to winning ways at Prenton Park tonight.

Three points at the expense of visitors Huddersfield Town (kick-off 7.45pm) would be enough to return Rovers to the top of the congested League One table – at least overnight.

Manager Moore hopes the recruitment of experienced left-winger Cooper from Cardiff City can improve the service to the front men and make the goals flow once more.

Rovers have averaged less than one strike per game since hot teenage prospect Steve Davies was forced out of the side by a long-term cruciate ligament injury last month.

Moore said: “We needed to balance the side after losing Davo. We have that balance now with Chris Shuker on the right and Cooper on the left. That’s no disrespect to Carl Tremarco, but he is a left back who was having to play on the left wing

“Kevin is an experienced player with a great left peg.

“The big thing now is that our strikers know they are going to get decent quality balls in from the left-hand side and also from the right. I think our strikers should be looking forward to that challenge now.”

Moore revealed he had been “chipping away” for more than a fortnight at Cardiff manager Dave Jones to release Cooper, a 32-year-old with long experience at Derby, Stockport, Wimbledon, Wolves as well as current employers, the Bluebirds.

“I think my 55 phone calls a day finally got through to Dave and I am grateful to him for releasing Kevin to us,” Moore said.

“He is here for a month and hopefully it is going to be longer than that. We will see how it goes.

“The good thing is to have a player of proven quality who wants to come here and play. We’ve had a frustrating time trying to get young players from Premiership and Championship clubs to come here. The kids won’t come out. They have their heads in the clouds.”

Moore says he is confident Shuker will be fit enough to return to the right flank after resting a torn thigh muscle for the best part of a fortnight.

Tranmere are eager to break a run of three successive home draws with a third league victory of the campaign at Prenton Park.

Moore said: “The last few home games have been frustrating. We have been behind in two of them and it would be good to get our noses in front and go from there.

“The performances have been okay. We needed a break or a little bit of luck and didn’t get it. Hopefully we can put that right. This is the ideal opportunity to go top of the league and put pressure on the teams who are playing on Saturday.”

Rovers can leap from sixth to first place with a victory over the Terriers, who have been unpredictable travellers this season. Andy Ritchie’s team boast two wins and for draws on the road so far.

Moore said: “I know Andy Ritchie well. He will be frustrated by the way things have gone for Huddersfield so far this season.

“I watched them recently at Doncaster where they did not play particularly well. We had them watched last weekend and in the last half-hour they battered Oldham and got the 1-1 draw they deserved.”

Moore has a healthy respect for the pace of Huddersfield’s former Everton front man Danny Cadamarteri and the finishing skills of experienced striker Luke Beckett.

He said: “Attacking-wise Huddersfield can cause you a problem or two but it is what we do ourselves that counts. If we play to the best of our ability and believe we can win the game.”