OPPOSITE number Mark Cooper is a wily old fox who has the ability to develop squads into good footballing teams.

That’s the opinion of Swindon Town manager Richie Wellens, who was complimentary of one of his County Ground predecessors ahead of this afternoon’s visit to Forest Green Rovers in League Two.

Cooper took charge at the New Lawn in May 2016, less than a year after he was sacked by Town following a run of seven defeats in eight games shortly into the club’s troubled 2015-16 League One campaign.

After winning promotion from non-league with the Nailsworth-based club during his first full season in charge, Cooper’s Rovers survived relegation a year later before remarkably appearing in the play-offs last term.

With a reportedly strong budget available to their disposal, Forest Green’s latest promotion challenges comes as no great surprise to Wellens.

He said: “I’ve watched Mark Cooper’s teams for a number of years –and played against his team while he was at Swindon.

“He always develops a good footballing team, and he has done an excellent job with Forest Green to get them up into the Football League.

“Their rise doesn’t surprise me. They have a good budget and manager in Mark.

“He’s had his own style of play over a number of years, and they’ve built momentum from winning every week in the Conference – similar to Tranmere last season.

“Also, they pay players decent money, so will always have a chance.”

Wellens revealed additional time has been spent this week viewing video footage of the opposition.

While often a tedious task, the Town boss stated he enjoys watching the variable tactics Cooper can assert on his squad’s performance.

“His style of football is the main thing that springs to mind,” said Wellens.

“I always like watching his teams because you have to think. When I watch videos of some teams, there isn’t a lot you can go on – it’s mix and match from week until the next.

“For Mark Cooper, you actually have to sit down and study the videos while thinking about what they’re doing.

“If we get our part wrong, they will expose us on Saturday – and vice-versa.”