Mark Cooper came away with mixed feelings after Forest Green lost 2-1 to Championship side Leeds United.

Rovers fell two goals behind in the first half but got themselves back in the game thanks to Dayle Grubb's cracking strike from 20 yards out.

Cooper accepted Leeds were by far the better side and who forced Rovers into making mistakes but he was pleased with how his team reacted and held their own in the second half.

"It was a brilliant test for us," he said. "They asked a lot of questions of us and I thought we were up against a really good team tonight.

"They played on the front foot and tried to press really aggressively.

"In the first half we made some bad decisions under pressure but I thought we came through it alright. We didn't create that many chances but we stayed in the game and that will do us the world of good.

"It was a great goal from Grubby, he's got that and has done it a few times for us and will continue to do that but I just think on the whole it was a tough test for us and I think we go away without any injuries and look forward to Bristol Rovers on Saturday.

Another encouraging sign was the performance of James Montgomery in goal who made four key saves in a man of the match display but the Rovers boss feels he may not have needed to make those saves if his team were better in possession.

"I was pleased with him but not so pleased with the way we turned the ball over for them to hit us. The way we work is when we win it back keep it safe and don't give the opposition the chance to counter attack you and we did that on numerous occasions tonight so that's where we've got to do better.

"It's not going to be perfect though, especially when you're playing Leeds United who i believe are going to be a very good Championship side this year."

Before facing Bristol Rovers, Forest Green play Swindon Supermarines away tonight and Cooper insists a strong team will be taking them on.

"They'll all be going to Swindon Supermarines tomorrow. The boys who played 90 minutes probably won't feature but the boys who played 70 might have to come on for 20 minutes so we'll all share the workload. We'll use a couple of the scholars to help us out but it'll be a strong team.

Cooper also confirmed Lee Collins missed the game through a virus but he expects him to feature in tonight's friendly.