DESPITE implementating Town’s own expansive style Mark Cooper says there is no right or wrong way to play football.

Fans at the County Ground have become accustomed to the possession-based philosophy brought in by Cooper since he took over as Town boss at the start of last season. It is a style that has been particularly effective since the start of the current campaign, with Town having not held less than 50% of the ball in any game.

Today’s visitors to SN1, Crewe, are another team well known for playing football on the floor and Cooper is expecting an entertaining game.

Despite the Swindon boss having a personal preference for the way he sets his side up he does not have any less respect for teams that choose a different approach.

“There’s no rules that say in that football rule book that say you have to do this, you have to do that,” Cooper explained.

“All it says is you have to get the ball in one goal and you have to keep it out of the other. There’s no right or wrong.

“I enjoy playing against all different types of teams because they all ask different questions of you. I’m looking forward to it (today’s fixture). We played well last year twice against Crewe.

“Hopefully if we can emulate that performance we can have a chance of winning, we’ve got full respect for them because they’re a good football club.”

This season has seen Town introduce a number of their academy players into the first-team squad. Will Randall and Lee Marshall have both appeared from the bench already this season, following Nathan and Louis Thompson from the club’s youth teams into the first XI.

It is a path well trodden by the players from today’s opposition, Gresty Road is a renowned breeding ground for talent. Young striker Billy Waters is the latest to start attracting attention from above, with Max Clayton already shopping himself around the Championship.

Cooper says chairman Lee Power would delighted if Town could start rolling out youngsters with the same frequency and is well aware of latest starlet Waters.

I’m sure the chairman would be over the moon if we produced what Crewe have produced over the years,” he added.

“Some of the names of and the transfer fees they’ve taken in over the years have been incredible. If we got anywhere near that I’m sure the chairman would be over the moon.

“He (Waters) has scored some good goals, we saw a lot of him last year. I’m sure he could be the next one that goes on to bigger things.”