By David Williams
Steve Cooper has told his Swansea City players their promotion campaign is about the survival of the fittest from here on in.
The Swans host Coventry City tonight at the Liberty Stadium, aiming to bounce back from their biggest defeat of the season – an unexpected 4-1 hammering at Huddersfield last weekend.
The saving grace was that automatic promotion rivals Brentford also slipped up – losing 2-0 at Mark Robins’ Sky Blues, who will feel buoyed by that result before facing Cooper’s side this evening.
With 17 matches for his team still to go – two or three more than all the clubs around them – head coach Cooper knows the campaign will now become all about their ability to recover and perform with matches every few days.
They will have to do so without Jordan Morris, their US international forward who suffered a serious knee injury at Huddersfield.
Loanee Morris is to fly back to Seattle for an operation and will not play again for several months.
Sounders forward Jordan Morris detailed his emotional state for the first time since suffering a season-ending knee injury.
“I’m absolutely gutted but the only thing to do is move forward and focus on my recovery,” he tweeted. https://t.co/BsXprWq9Nb
— Seattle Times Sports (@SeaTimesSports) February 24, 2021
“We’re at home, we’re starting this spell of playing every three or four days, and it’s about survival of the fittest and the toughest as well, both physically and mentally,” said Cooper.
“We are looking forward to these games. We were really disappointed with the result at the weekend, but that happens. You have to deal with it and move on.
“We want to bounce back but, even if we’d won on the weekend, it’s the case that the past is gone and whatever happens, you start again and prepare for the next game,” he said.
“We know Coventry had a really good result and performance on the weekend against Brentford.
“They’re a team that’s stuck with and trusted the way they got promoted from League One with last season, and I have a lot of respect for that.”
“They have a very experienced manager, an experienced assistant manager and we know it’s a game we’ve absolutely got to be ready for. But we will be.”
A victory for Swansea could take them back into the top two in the Championship, depending on how Watford – one place above the Swans in third – get on away to Blackburn Rovers.
Cooper’s side face eight matches in the next 25 days – playing weekend and midweek through until March 20 and the derby clash at home to rejuvenated Cardiff City.