SWINDON Town boss Mark Cooper has responded to Phil Parkinson’s criticism of his team by advising Bradford City’s players not to try and kick opponents off the park.

The Bantams chief was left unhappy after Tuesday night’s 2-1 defeat at the County Ground and accused Town’s players of going down too easily.

Parkinson accused Cooper’s side of ‘professionalism’ and suggested that their actions saw Bradford’s players, like James Meredith, booked.

However, this morning Cooper has defended his team and suggested that the visitors gave as good as they got.

When asked if he thought that Parkinson’s comments were disrespectful, Cooper said: “He is entitled to his opinion.

“He has a really good team there and he has got some good players. They have beaten some really good teams this year in the FA Cup and they beat MK Dons the other week so it was a big win for us.

“But my answer to that would be don’t kick them. Just try and get the ball.

“There was one incident where John Stead kicked Raphael Branco off the ball in our penalty area, which should have been a red card but I never mentioned that after the game.”