The talented forward has hit the ground running with his new club but he wants more
Joel Cooper has won it all during his time in the Irish League but he isn’t done just yet.
Last season’s League Player of the Year is now plying his trade with Coleraine after six trophy-laden years with Linfield.
But the 29-year-old is as hungry as ever to taste more success with his new club as he fired out a warning shot to their title rivals.
“I didn’t come here for a jolly-up, I came to try and be successful and push the club forward,” said Cooper. “Hopefully I can do that and help the boys in the changing room and the young lads.
“There’s other lads in the changing room too that have been very successful, they know what it takes to win. It’s important that we set standards and help younger lads and others to get where they need to be.
Whilst the Bannsiders squad is brimming with talent Cooper knows getting that first league title under their belts is always going to be the toughest.
“The first league title is the hardest,” said Cooper. “Winning breeds that mentality and we have a lot of winners on our team. So we hope that that can breed through the other boys.
“Linfield’s history has been winning. The Glens’ history has been winning and that breeds through the club. I think for us to get there we need to win.
“It’s easy saying you need to win but that’s where the mentality comes from. All we can do is prepare properly and take each game as it comes.
“There’s outside noise but that’s nothing to do with us. We as individuals and as a group know where we’re at as a team.
“We know that there are teams ahead of us and we’re at the start of this journey, there are teams that want to put pressure on us from the outside, but we don’t look too much into it.
“We just try to focus on improving and getting to know each other as players and individuals. From there, if we do that properly, who knows where it can take us.”
The next big test for Coleraine is the visit of league leaders Glentoran to The Showgrounds this evening.
Both sides have made good starts to the new season and are the only remaining sides till unbeaten at this stage.
A win for the hosts would see them jump to the summit and Cooper believes a positive result for his side would provide a massive confidence boost for them.
“It’s massive, I think to get a result against your rivals,” he said. “It would breed so much confidence in this group if we were able to get a good result. But again, it’s three points.
“Three points is the same three points you play for every week. For us, it’s just another game where we look to get three points.
“It wouldn’t matter who was coming here on Friday night, we’d prepare the same way and go into it hoping to get three points.”
