David Healy responds to Joel Cooper speculation as Linfield move 11 points clear
NIFL Premiership: Dungannon Swifts 0 Linfield 1
Linfield manager David Healy has responded to reports that Joel Cooper is set to leave the club after the winger was heavily linked to a move to Coleraine in recent days.
The 28-year-old is out of contract at the end of the season and he has yet to sign a deal with the Blues.
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He scored the only goal in Tuesday night’s win at Dungannon Swifts - a win which saw Healy’s men move 11 points clear at the top of the table.
However, the Linfield boss is adamant that Cooper will remain at the club.
“Joel (Cooper) has picked up his fifth yellow today so he will miss the Glenavon game on Saturday,” said Healy.
"Am I confident he'll be back for Boxing Day? One million percent. Joel will be playing on Boxing Day.
"We'll look forward to hopefully more goals and more moments like what Joel has contributed, tonight and throughout his the majority of the time throughout his Linfield career."
Cooper made light of the intense pre-match chatter to steer Linfield to victory away to closest challengers Dungannon Swifts
All eyes were on Linfield’s No.9, who still managed to perform with all the freedom and verve that has made him such a prized asset.
After a cagey opening, the first clear sight of goal came Linfield’s way as Kirk Millar’s deep corner fell at the feet of Matthew Fitzpatrick but the striker failed to connect properly and the ball bobbled safely into the hands of keeper Declan Dunne.
Dungannon weren’t lacking in ambition but they struggled to punch any holes in the stout Linfield backline and the closest they came in the early exchanges was a sweetly-struck free-kick from James Knowles that needed just another yard’s worth of dip to find the top corner.
At the other end, Cooper let fly from a similar distance, forcing Dunne into a sprawling save down to his right but it was back to the drawing board for both sides at the break after a dour first half.
Dunne did his best to enliven proceedings on the restart, making a hash of a clearance under pressure from Fitzpatrick. The ball trickled tantalisingly along the goalline but it rolled just wide enough to deny Kirk Millar a tap-in and the Swifts defence managed to clear up the keeper’s mess.
Dunne didn’t cover himself in glory either when the deadlock was broken in the 53rd minute but perhaps Cooper was always destined to be the game-changer. The mercurial attacker certainly did well to evade a couple of challenges and while his right-foot shot lacked power, it was accurate enough to beat Dunne and nestle in the bottom corner.
The Dungannon keeper did redeem himself when he instinctively stuck out his left boot to block a fierce strike from Millar and his opposite number David Walsh was equally alert when pawing away John McGovern’s header from point-blank range. The striker really should have scored though.
Cooper remained in the spotlight when picking up a yellow card for diving in the box before the Swifts came within inches of equalising. Knowles, having had that first-half sighter, pinged another peach of a free-kick at goal from 25 yards out that beat Walsh but rattled the angle between crossbar and post.
Dunne’s night then went from bad to worse in the 87th minute as he received a straight red card when handling outside the box as Fitzpatrick threatened to burst through to an unguarded net and the game was up for the Swifts.
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