Tranmere 2-2 Gills: Neale Cooper

Last updated : 26 September 2005 By Simon Head

Cooper: Praise for stand-in skipper Byfield

"What an exciting game of football!" he told the Sporting Life after the match.

"We could have fallen flat on our face after our Cup performance but we played some good stuff and it was a big point for us.

"There were a lot of pleasing features and certainly Darren Byfield had an excellent match. I was disappointed with certain aspects of our defensive work.

"I was also disappointed that many refereeing decisions went against us but I can't say too much about that."

He also heaped praise on striker Darren Byfield. He gave the striker the captain's armband for the day and Byfield responded with an excellent performance, scoring twice thanks to a well-taken free kick and a calmly-taken penalty.

"Darren has been getting a bit of stick from some of the boys because I made him captain for the game," he told the BBC.

"But he's been excellent from day one, and he is playing out of his skin at the moment.

"He was absolutely superb at Tranmere - scored two great goals, hit the bar twice, and his all-round work rate and leadership was excellent."