By Paul Jones
Steve Cooper reckons the chase for automatic promotion is back on and his Swansea City side have not given up hope of catching Watford.
Tuesday night’s 2-0 win at Sheffield Wednesday has cut the gap between second-placed Watford and the Swans to seven points, with both clubs having five games to go.
The last of those is the fixture between the clubs at Vicarage Road and before then Watford have away trips to both leaders Norwich City and fourth-placed Brentford.
It means evens even if Watford were to win their other two matches – away at Luton this weekend and at home to Millwall – if they lost those two tricky away trips, then the Swans could take the outcome to the final fixture.
“We are certainly chasing Watford now and when there’s a chance, it gives you hope,” said head coach Cooper, whose team have three out of their next four games at home before that clash with Watford.
“When you have hope you keep going. Until something is not possible, we will be fighting like we do. We have to keep picking up points and we won’t take anything for granted.”
Cooper praised his side’s mentality following their win, which gave his team backto-back victories for the first time since early March and followed four successive defeats.
Jamal Lowe scored his third goal in two games as he broke the deadlock in the 31st minute, turning in a pass from Andre Ayew.
Cooper brought on Connor Roberts in the 73rd minute and less than a minute later he crossed for Jay Fulton to power in the Swans’ second goal.
Cooper said: “The blip isn’t over yet. It was a good positive response on Saturday and again tonight.
“The challenge for the boys tonight was to win again after Millwall and it was a real sign of the mentality that I want.
“Wednesday caused us a couple of issues in the first half and I thought we could have been more aggressive with our pressing.
“Andre Ayew made a good decision for Jamal Lowe’s finish and I thought we controlled the game and without the ball.
“These are important games and points matter more than ever at this stage of the season. To play like that over two games is really good.
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Lowe ended a 17-game run without a goal after netting a brace at The Den, and he was at it again on Tuesday night as he opened the scoring against the Owls.
“It’s a brilliant team performance and a brilliant team goal,” said the Jamaica international.
“We went on the press and Andre won the ball back. We were two-on-one with the goalie, and Andre squared it to me and all I had to do was put it in the net.
“It was very unselfish, and it typifies how we are as a team. It’s all about the team.”
Wednesday boss Darren Moore said: “It was a game of really small margins in terms of the great chance we had to get our noses in front.
“Once they got the goal, they seemed to then get a foothold in the game and dominated possession of the ball. It was always going to be a tough task then.
“We tried numerous things and got into threatening positions. We just couldn’t get the final contact on the ball.
“They got the second goal and it was a mountain to climb.
“I analysed the game and there were small frustrations within me.
“There was some really good stuff where we went toe-to-toe and matched them in terms of the quality. We have to find sustainability.
“The first goal is always important and we are disappointed with it. It was a goal that from our view should have been avoidable.
“The maths and numbers are still there. Without a doubt, we are looking towards the next three points on Saturday.”