Carlos Carvalhal insists Tammy Abraham can “fly” in the absence of lame Swans Wilfried Bony and Leroy Fer.
The Swansea City manager is resigned to being without Bony and Fer for the remainder of the season and has also revealed that Renato Sanches is still at least a month away from fitness.
But Carvalhal – whose team will be looking to stretch their unbeaten run to eight matches when they host Notts County in the FA Cup on Tuesday – is upbeat that other players can make light of the injured trio.
In particular, he is looking towards Abraham and new fellow loan signing Andy King to make an impact, as well as old boy Andre Ayew who returned to the club on transfer deadline day last week.
Bony has a knee injury and Fer has a damaged Achilles tendon that have ended their campaigns prematurely, but Carvalhal said: “When one Swan falls, it is a chance for another Swan to fly. It is true, it gives a chance for someone else to fly.
“Fer was doing well and Bony was growing game by game. But Tom Carroll gave us something when he was involved, he played really well and with Andy King we have another solution.
“We have Sam Clucas, who can play inside, too, and Renato will recover in about four or five weeks and he can have an impact until the end of the season.”
Abraham had an impressive start to his loan spell and scored five goals in his opening 10 matches at the start of the season.
That was enough for the 20-year-old Chelsea player to earn a first international call up by England.
But injuries and a loss of form means he has not found the net since October 14 and he has yet to start a Premier League match since the turn of the year.
But Carvalhal added: “He is an interesting player with talent and quality. He has a lot of pace and can make a lot of opportunities.
“He must learn and I have spoken about the work in transitions and he must be more strong. But I have seen him do this well and it can make him a more complete player and he will progress with us. He has only trained for a couple of weeks.
“He is a player we like and know from when he was with Bristol City.
“We want him to give the maximum opportunity and Andre Ayew can also play as striker or on the left or right. I wish we had all players available, but because they are not we believe another Swan can fly and perform well.
“I have enough players and cover. We brought in Andy King because we understood we could have a problem in midfield and Renato will also come back to help the midfield.
“It is the same in attack: We brought Andre Ayew so we have wingers and attackers. Jordan is doing fantastic, Andre can play there too and so can Tammy.
“Even without these players we have Nathan Dyer, Luciano Narsingh and Wayne Routledge, who are mobile in attack. I am pleased about the boys.
“I wish that Fer and Bony will recover fast. But they’re not here and we have players to recover the situation as you saw when Carroll came on (against Leicester).”
