Sutton were seeking a third consecutive victory but clear chances were at a premium at the VBS Community Stadium.
Glovers goalkeeper Oliver Wright produced a fine late save to prevent forward Will Davies heading the hosts ahead.
Yeovil striker Frank Nouble went close to a first-half opener when his effort flashed narrowly off target.
The Glovers have gone three games without a goal and the boss had made four changes from last weekend’s 1-0 defeat at Oldham Athletic for the fixture. On loan Rotherham United striker Ciaran McGuckin and Jordan Young start in wide positions with Brett McGavin, who has three goals this season, in the middle of the pitch.
Full-back Michael Smith misses out with a hamstring injury which saw him limp off early in the second half on Saturday and is replaced by Dom Bernard, but Cooper said his side would still start with a familiar formation.
He told BBC Somerset’s Ian Randall: “We are always a 4-3-3 or a 4-3-2-1. Brett McGavin has a real goal threat and he’s in the team. We have to look at the strengths more the weaknesses. Dom Bernard comes in (for Smith) and he is a good replacement and Ciaran McGuckin and Jordan Young come in as one of the wide forwards and we want to come here and attack tonight and try and score some goals.
“We have looked organised and competent, people say we have not scored but we scored seven games in two games (against Boston United and AFC Fylde) and then we have gone on a run of not scoring. So it about trying to get that consistency and solidity as well as having a real goal threat.
“It is something we have to address, we have to make sure we do not unbalance things too much and become wide open, but still have that goal threat going forward. That is what we are trying to do tonight, we have people on the pitch that can attack the goal, so we will see what happens.”
The manager admitted he had learned the lesson of his side’s flat performance in the 1-0 midweek home defeat to Solihull Moors a fortnight ago which followed a dramatic 4-3 win at AFC Fylde 72 hours earlier.
He added: “I learnt that we had an unbelievable win at Fylde with all the emotion and euphoria of that win, but then we played the following Tuesday (in the 1-0 home defeat to Solihull Moors) and we had no energy. That is down to me and I should have made some changes. We had a get together and spoke about freshening things up and put four fresh ones in with Saturday in mind.“
The midfield wasn’t missing
There’s been some criticism that Yeovil haven’t been strong enough in the middle of the park recently, so it was nice to see tonight’s pairing make their mark. Brett McGavin was brought back into the side, and his tidiness on the ball proved a perfect complement to Charlie Cooper’s ‘wasp at a picnic’ playing style, giving us more control in the game, in the first half at least. When Cooper Jr is on it- flying into tackles, breaking up play and kickstarting attacks – it’s particularly pleasant to see, even if he did perhaps get the wind taken out of his sails as the game wore on.
Put some respect on Ollie Wright’s name
Last season, Mark Cooper made the right call by ditching his young keeper and bringing in a more experienced pair of hands. This time around, he deserves credit for sticking by his man after some called for a repeat. Wright still has the odd wobble – as you’d expect from a 21-year-old – but his shot-stopping over the past two games should mean his stock is higher than it is within some sectors of the fanbase. The nerviest moment from our man between the sticks was when he painfully collided with the woodwork while claiming a cross, but he recovered to ensure his MOTM-worthy performance remained blemish free.
We need to make more of Aaron Jarvis’ bag of tricks
The striker’s hold-up play remains impressive, and he puts himself about like no other, battling away with the best of them and making himself a nuisance… but to what end? Mark Cooper pinpointed “seven or eight crosses across the face of goal in the first half” and “a one-v-one which he will be frustrated he did not score”, but I would argue the service he received probably still left Jarvis wanting more. While Frank Nouble did seem to stick a little closer to him than usual, leaving him less isolated than in previous games, it does still feel like we’re not quite utilising our number nine. It’s a question we need the answer to if we’re going to end our four-game goal drought.
What was going on with the final balls?
Both teams had their share of wayward shots and crosses, with nobody able to show the composure needed in the final moment. If Sutton had inflated the match balls with helium, it still wouldn’t have quite explained how Jordan Young managed to find the corner flag with an effort that looked for all the world like it was shaping up to be one of his trademark cut-inside-and-put-it-top-bins goals. The comedy moment of the evening must surely have been claimed by Finn Cousin-Dawson though, whose foul throw was the ‘chef’s kiss’ on a night where everybody was fluffing their lines.
We need a little more
A 0-0 draw away at Sutton should be considered a good point on the road, but nothing more than that. If we’re aiming to go “back-to-back” or for “play-offs minimum”, we need to find a way to get ourselves on the right side of those fine margins, and that means turning defeats into draws and draws into wins. If we can get all three points at Huish Park on Saturday, it will go down as a fantastic week’s work, but anything less and there may be some grumbles.
