"We should have won it," says Cooper after Shaymen draw at home with Wealdstone

Florent Hoti and Tom Pugh scored for Town against the strugglers, with Halifax recovering from a poor first-half to end the game in the ascendancy.

"Proud of the character of the group, to come from two goals down," Cooper said.

"I don't think they've really threatened much in our final third for the entire game.

"Two soft goals to concede is really frustrating for us.

"We set up to go really aggressive, press them high and when you get picked off a couple of times early on, there's maybe some doubt sets in about what we're doing.

"They opened us up a couple of times but wthout really hurting us, but I had good belief the lads were on board with what we were trying to do.

"I just didn't think we were at our best with the ball in that first-half, a bit sloppy in possession.

"It took a couple of adjustments at half-time in terms of positioning to ge a bit more of a reaction, and I thought we were much better second-half, I thought we were the better side the majority of the second-half, it was played in their half, with some good tempo.

"It's always a challenge when we concede that second goal, you think it might not be our day with the deflected shot, but we said we needed togetherness and we stepped up.

"I thought we were the better side even before the red card, we were starting to get in the ascendancy and create chances.

"We had 25 shots, 9 on target, hit the crossbar twice, Billy's shot saved, there were others as well.

"When teams go down to ten men, we've sometimes failed to capitalise, so it was pleasing that we risked it to try and get three points.

"To come out with a point, in the grand scheme of things, is disappointing, but I think the manner of it, we got a point by trying to be aggressive, trying to be on the front-foot, by risking, getting bodies in the box, making positive changes."

Town ended the game as the dominant side, creating a glut of chances, but when asked why they didn't start the match in that manner, Cooper said: "They (Wealdstone) start with 11 - if they started with 10, that would help!

"Any game stretches and opens up in the latter stages.

"Everything's cagey, especially in the National League. We went high and tried to win the ball back as high as we could against a possession based team who try and play out from the back.

"We got picked off but we also got some opportunities, I think we had three or four shots in the first 10 or 15 minutes.

"I can understand that but we made the changes to have a positive impact and we grew into the game, and finished strong.

"The only disappointment is the manner of the two goals, which are really soft, for a Halifax Town side that have prided ourselves on how we are without the ball as a team, niot just the back line.

"It's disappointing to concede those two goals, but immense resilience and strength to come back and show what we're about.

"Maybe you can bemoan quality at times but I think you look at that last 25 minutes, half an hour, even the ten minutes before the red card, we were fully in the ascendancy, we were dominant and I think there was only one team that were going to go on and score and that was us."

Both sides' first goals came from the penalty spot, with Sam Ashford and Hoti finding the net from 12 yards.

"I'm more disappointed with the tracking of the runners and not getting on the second balls, because we forced them to play long, which is what we worked on," Cooper said.

"As that happens, we've got the commanding centre-halves to go and win the ball, but then we need to get on the seconds and play.

"So it's disappointing, that phase of the game, because then they got a chance to get in.

"It looked soft, I can only go on what the lads have said, it looked really soft.

"Max's one, I know he's taken the ball and got clipped. Speaking to him after the game, it seemed pretty valid, he believes there was contact that stopped him taking the ball round his man."

On Town's grandstand finish, Cooper said: "We should have won it, which is testament to the lads.

"We were prepared to lose it, to try and risk everything to get that goal. To really stretch ourselves, leave ourselves open at the back, send Jo Cummings high up the pitch to create some chaos, put Jamie Cooke narrower to Billy Waters to allow Angelo Cappello to play on the last line.

"So we did risk it, the fans got behind us and were aware of that, the momentum was there.

"We go the goal but we didn't get two to get us the three points.

"But good strength of character to come back from the two goals, under the circumstances we're in.

"As disappointed as we will be in paper in that it's a home draw, but we've got more points than we had at this stage last season, we've had a difficult run, we've had some adversity to face.

"It's a challenge and a test, but I'd be disappointed if people left today feeling that the staff and the players weren't giving their all and were keeping themselves in reserve and weren;t fully motivated under these difficult circumstances.

"I think we got full buy-in from the lads and we got a response.

"The moments that challenged us was when we stood up."

Manager Chris Millington wasn't at the game but Cooper says he is steadily having more input and influence as he recovers from his operation.

"I got a brief message from him at half-time, which was brilliant because it reaffirmed what he wanted from the side, which was for us to keep pressing, not to drop off and sit and wait," Cooper said.

"It was for us to really go for it and play a bit more high risk to try and win the ball back and get at their back line.

"And if you look at where the goals have come from and the 25 chances we created, that's clear that a lot of it came from us reganing the ball in their half and keeping them in their half.

"I get the odd shout (from the crowd) when the opposition go low, sometimes we go back and around to draw them out, to try and play through them, and that's worked.

"There was the odd moan around the short corners, but we got the penalty from a short corner, working it back and around, and three goals against Eastleigh came from those routines.

"His influence is massive because I know what a Chris Milington team looks like, and I want to replicate and do as much as we can in his absence, knowing that we've got the buy-in from the lads.

"He was watching the game live, he's had an input, he's had an impact massively.

"It's his team. On Tuesday, aybe it's too early for him to come back.

"He might be there in some capacity, but it's just on him.

"There's no stress or pressure from the club, he's got to be well enough because I know how he operates, he's got to be well enough to do the job to the ability he knows he can do it.

"He can't go half in, he'll come back when he knows he can have the impact he's had on this club, which has been brilliant over the years."

Jack Evans missed the game due to a quad injury.

"He did a gym session today, did some work on it with the physio," Cooper said.

"He's got to get back in on Monday and we'll asses him to see if any further advice is needed from a specialist."

On striker Zak Emmerson, the assistant manager said: "Steady progress still in the gym, hoping to progress a bit further next week when we'll probably get a more clinical definition of a timeline."

Defender Adam Alimi-Adetoro won't be involved in the National League Cup on Tuesday.

"He was involved in the warm-up and it was great to have his beaming smile back around the place," said Cooper.

"He'll be back for Saturday."

And on midfielder Jack Jenkins, Cooper said: "He was doing some more up tempo running today prior to the game.

"He's not trained with the group yet so Tuesday will be too early, but he's making progress and hopefully he's not too far away."