Cooper rubbishes James claims

Colin Cooper refuted claims that Hartlepool had rejected a £1million bid for striker Luke James following the 2-0 loss to Dagenham.

The north-east club revealed on Monday that James had handed in a written transfer request, with rumours of a seven-figure offer from Peterborough swirling. Posh boss Darren Ferguson has since confirmed his interest in the 19-year-old, although Cooper denied that an approach of such value had been made. He said: "I can assure you we have not received a bid of £1million." Cooper, who would not be drawn on whether an offer of any value had been received, added: "We're hoping to sit down with Luke on Thursday to discuss his request." Worries over potentially losing their key player were compounded for Pools on the field as goals from Luke Howell and Abu Ogogo condemned them to a second successive 2-0 home loss. They now find themselves second bottom in the table, with three league defeats sandwiching a 5-2 Capital One Cup hammering at Port Vale. Cooper added: "I suppose we played some nice football at times and had two or three decent opportunities. "But the reality is that it is just not quite good enough. I have to think about things ahead of Wimbledon on Saturday. "We had chances and didn't take them and the two goals we conceded were poor. The games keep coming and we have to be as prepared as we can. "The thing that really disappoints me is how we are just being cut open. It hurts as an ex-defender. "My job is to try to galvanise the lads. I will also continue trying to keep bringing players in and hopefully those players will make us stronger." For Dagenham, the result brought a great source of relief given they, too, had been defeated in their opening three games. The long journey south seemed certain to be a happy one, with assistant manager Warren Hackett saying: "It was always going to be a tough game; we both didn't have any points on the board and obviously one side was going to come out with a win. Fortunately it was us. "Although we have lost the last couple of games, we have played well in the first half without putting a full performance together. "Here we managed to put a full 90 minutes together and got the right result." A duller game proved more enjoyable for Hackett having seen Dagenham draw 6-6 with Brentford and ultimately lose on penalties in the cup last week. "That was a great game for the spectators (the 6-6) but certainly not for me," he admitted. "One of the biggest things I was pleased with was the clean sheet. When you're away from home you're going to come under a certain amount of pressure so we're pleased to have got the win."