James Collins praises Cooper after he bounces back from Cheltenham disappointment.

James Collins was delighted with the reaction shown by George Cooper after we was substituted in the first half at Cheltenham. With Crewe 2-0 down at Whaddon Road and struggling to get a foot-hold of the ball in midfield, young Cooper was sacrificed for James Jones as Steve Davis evened up the numbers in the centre of the pitch.

Cooper was understandably disappointed to have been withdrawn after 35 minutes, but he responded in superb fashion at Accrington Stanley on Tuesday evening with a goal in a Man-of-the-Match performance.

The Warrington-born teenager operated in the number 10 position behind Callum Saunders and was a threat throughout the game. He scored the second goal in a 3-0 win after racing through on to a long ball from Danny Hollands and then created the final goal for substitute Daniel Udoh in stoppage time.

Assistant manager Collins told crewealex.net: “George was disappointed to come off early at Cheltenham and there was a reaction because of that, but we would have been annoyed if there wasn’t. We know how much he wants to play and do well.

“When it was explained to him at half-time that is was purely tactical and that we needed some help in midfield, he understood the decision.

“He went into the game on Tuesday night and wanted to show what a god player he is and that he deserves to be in the team. He did really well and we were pleased with his contribution. He got a goal and assisted for Daniel’s goal and showed that he can be the difference in games.

James added: “We have told our wingers and our number 10s that they have to get in the box more and score more goals. We did a lot of work on that in the summer and they are getting better at it. They are getting in there and trying to get on the end of chances a lot more now and it is good to see them scoring goals because that is what they need to be doing.”