It’s the last part of the season, those final games where destiny in the case of Swansea City is firmly within their own making. The last two months haven’t made pleasant reading for the swans, it hasn’t been at all good. However, the race is on and of the swans fail, they will only have themselves to blame.
The good Friday game at St Andrews against a revitalised Birmingham City is the first test for Cooper’s men, and one that cannot fail if the momentum built up this season is to continue. The reverse fixture saw Birmingham City scrape a 0-0 draw at the Liberty back at the start of the season. To say the swans are injury ravaged would be an understatement. But that doesn’t matter, there has been too much emphasis on this in the past, we are no different to other clubs and have the personnel to overcome any issue. In fact it may well help. Andre Ayew, Conner Hourihane, Ryan Manning, Marc Guehi and Liam Cullen are all under treatment as the first game in Birmingham looms. Jordan Morris and Paul Arriola clearly couldn’t match up to the physical requirements of the championship and have returned to the USA. Morgan Gibbs-White and Kasey Palmer have had their loans cancelled.
This does make the games over Easter and beyond far easier to select for, in Morgan Whittaker we have a young and hungry goal scorer, he has proven already that he can get in to positions to score goals. If he isn’t given a role it will be a poor move, he deserves it. Jamal Lowe found his goal scoring boots for Jamaica, so we all hope he has at least retuned to some form, and gained what every striker/ front player needs, confidence. We have started with the front players, because behind them there is a solid structure and strategy in place which generally works well. It’s all about goals now and winning games commandingly. The swans also have Brandon and Olly Cooper to call upon.
Marc Guehi will be a big loss if he remains injured for the weekend
The International break ?
Steve Cooper -
"Hopefully good. We’ve tried to be as proactive as possible. About a third of the boys have gone away, some have not returned as we speak. It was a chance to have a few days off and a chance to get some work done on the training ground. We’ve tried to use the time wisely. This week, it’s a focus now on getting back ready for the games. The lads are really positive. The weather’s picked up a little bit which always helps”
Birmingham City
New manager, new life. Steve Cooper has already stated "We’ve got to manage that ourselves. New managers coming in does have a bounce and that’s going to be part of the challenge on Friday. They’re an experienced team. In the two games [under him], they have been much better, they had a really good result against Reading."Yeah, Connor, I’ve just said to him, it’s like a recovery day for him. He’s in good spirits today. He’s disappointed with the red card but he’s delighted that Wales got what could be a really important result. We did try and use the international break wisely. We haven’t been the best returners to league action from international breaks in the past. It’s something we made a step forward with the last one in November. We’re going into a vital end of the season where, it’s still three points a game, but it’ll feel like there’s more on it than in previous phases of the season. We’ve got to embrace the nine games, we’re in a really positive position. It’s all about grabbing the opportunity with both hands and making the most of it and trying not to have any regrets”
Our sentiments here exactly, no regrets, which qualifies the thought process of theres nobody to blame but themselves if these Swansea City players are not in the premier league come May. Watch the game LIVE a on SKY with an 8pm kick off.
Monday’s game see’s another new manager at the helm of Preston North End it’s a 3pm kick off for that one in Bank Holiday Monday, we will have a preview on that game on Sunday morning. SKY have picked the swans away game at Reading for LIVE coverage. Official site - Sky Sports have picked the game for live coverage, which sees the Swans' trip to Berkshire now pencilled in for 12pm on Sunday, April 25.