Cooper could be set for a return at Peterborough
GEORGE Cooper will return to former club Peterborough United for the first time as Plymouth Argyle bid to bounce back from their heaviest defeat of the season.
Ryan Lowe’s Pilgrims are away to second-placed Peterborough at the Weston Homes Stadium tonight (7pm).
Cooper was an unused substitute when Argyle were hammered 5-1 at Fleetwood Town on Saturday.
Lowe must be tempted to make a number of changes to his starting line-up against Peterborough, and Cooper could be among them.
The 24-year-old, who signed for Peterborough after coming through the ranks at Crewe Alexandra, was included in the side for the 2-2 draw with Portsmouth at Home Park last Monday.
But Byron Moore, returning from a knee injury, was preferred to Cooper at left wing-back for the game against Fleetwood.
Cooper signed a three-year contract with Argyle at the start of September after leaving Peterborough for an undisclosed fee.
That followed his highly successful loan stint with the Pilgrims during their 2019/20 League Two promotion campaign.
Cooper has made 10 starts and two substitute appearances in all competitions this term and scored twice.
However, he has only played a couple of games since the 2-0 defeat at Lincoln City five weeks ago.
Cooper had to self isolate after a family member tested positive for Covid-19 and he had been in close contact with them.
That meant he had to sit out the 1-1 draw away to Wigan Athletic and the 2-1 home win against Doncaster Rovers. He has been an unused substitute for three of the five Argyle matches since then.
Cooper first moved to Peterborough from Crewe Alexandra in January 2018 but went on to have a difficult time at the Cambridgeshire club.
He made only 16 starts and out of 42 total appearances for Posh and netted five times.
Argyle are just one of three teams in League One without an away win this season, with a record of two draws and three defeats.
The others are 18th-placed Swindon Town (0-1-4) and bottom-ofthe-table Burton Albion (0-3-4).
Peterborough suffered their first home league defeat of the season when they lost 2-1 to Blackpool on Saturday.
Frankie Kent scored an 84th minute equaliser for Darren Ferguson’s Peterborough, only for Gary Madine to get a late winning goal for the Seasiders.
That was Peterborough’s second successive league defeat and saw them drop to second position in the League One table as Hull City went top after a comfortable 3-1 win at MK Dons.