FOREST Green manager Mark Cooper spoke to BBC Radio Gloucestershire after Tuesday night's last-gasp win over Tranmere and revealed his delight for the side to edge closer to sealing a playoff place in the National League.

Rovers followed up Saturday's 1-0 win at Guiseley with another narrow victory over Tranmere, and the boss believes it's essential the club start getting the better of big clubs.

“It’s been a long time since this football club has won a game against what I would call a big team. You can beat teams in the FA Cup but there’s no real pressure on you.

"It’s been a long while and we have to be able to do that if you want to be promoted.

"We didn’t play particularly well tonight. Nor did we on Saturday against Guiseley, but we competed fantastically well against what I thought was a brilliant Tranmere performance.

"I thought they were very, very good. I thought they were unlucky tonight. But our defenders and midfielders scrapped for every ball. They headed everything away in the box and we got the three points."

And on goalkeeper Sam Russell’s performance, Cooper said: “I asked him tonight to come out and catch some crosses, and he came and competed. He came and punished and caught things. If the defenders didn’t get it, then Sam did."

When asked if he’d have settled for 0-0 with the game headed for a draw late on, the Rovers manager admitted: “I’ve got to be honest, I’m just looking for some commitment going in to, hopefully, the playoffs. And that three points goes a long way to making sure we’re in them.

“But I said before Saturday’s game that I’m looking for a group of players that are desperate to play for me and desperate to play for the football club. I think we’ve had that in the last two games.

“We stemmed the Tranmere threat. Sometimes we will have to defend, but if we are going to be successful we’re going to have to play football. When it’s on for us in possession, we can’t keep whacking it forward as it will keep coming back at us.

"We had a couple of passages in the second half where we played some decent football, but we have to talk about the commitment, the honesty, the drive and desire tonight."

When asked if it was Rovers’ most impressive performance in regard to the heart shown by the side, Cooper responded: “I think so, because we had to defend for our lives at times. Tranmere have got some good players, they’re a good team so it’s a big result for us."