Steve Cooper hailed the professionalism of his Swansea City players and the threat posed by his forward duo as they moved second in the Championship with a fine 2-0 victory at QPR. Andre Ayew put the Swans ahead with a eighth goal of the season for the club just before half-time.

Yan Dhanda wants to blaze a trail for the next generation of Asian footballers that takes him all the way to the Premier League. The Swansea City midfielder, who headed to south Wales after leaving Liverpool at 19, is growing into a key figure for Steve Cooper’s side who are chasing Championship promotion. Now 22, Dhanda is one of just 10 British Asians playing professional football in the United Kingdom.

You couldn’t help but note the irony. As darkness descended over Wales last Saturday – both literally and metaphorically after the First Minister’s announcement regarding a national tier four lockdown – intense work on the Liberty Stadium surface was already underway. Merely minutes after Swansea had completed a 2-0 win over Barnsley, the sight of players in white or red shirts was replaced by ground staff, diggers, and tractors as the process of digging up the much maligned pitch began.

Yan Dhanda believes a new pitch at Swansea City can lay firm foundations for a push towards promotion to the Premier League. Swansea City’s former Liverpool midfielder helped create some of their best moments in the 2-0 weekend victory over Barnsley on a surface so poor even Monty Don would abandon it. The Swans have done the same – digging it up with an army of ground staff and tractors under floodlights on Saturday night and readying themselves for a replacement in time for January.

Midway through the first half at the Liberty Stadium yesterday, Clarke Odour’s corner found Mads Andersen just outside the Swansea six yard box. Andersen took a touch, shaped to fire at goal, only to then have the ball nicked away from him by the sliding Ben Cabango. It turned out to be an understated moment. It was a challenge that Cabango had to get right or Barnsley would have almost certainly levelled, or at least had an opportunity to do so from the penalty spot.

It was the response that Steve Cooper said he knew was coming.After following their most accomplished display of the season to win at Cardiff last Saturday, with arguably their most inept one at Derby on Wednesday, S wansea City responded in kind this afternoon with a 2-0 win over Barnsley at the Liberty Stadium. The result, courtesy of Jamal Lowe’s early strike and Victor Adeboyejo’s second half own goal, was enough to move the Swans back up to third and quickly banish the memories of Pride Park.

Andre Ayew insists Swansea City can smooth out the wrinkles from a bumpy few days by beating in-form Barnsley today at the Liberty Stadium. The Swans appeared to be moving along smoothly after their 2-0 derby day victory at Cardiff City a week ago, which had them pushing hard on the heels of the top two in the Championship. But a midweek 2-0 loss at struggling Derby County was followed by the news that the clubs intends to rip up their rapidly deteriorating pitch and install a brand new one after this weekend.

Steve Cooper has told his players to take defeat on the chin and not look for any excuses after they lost for the fourth time this season. The Swans head coach was downcast after a demoralising 2-0 defeat at Derby County, a team that had not won at home all season, are still in the relegation zone, and had not managed more than a single goal in any game this season. But they were far too good for Swansea on the night as Cooper’s team followed up their derby day victory at Cardiff City last Saturday with their poorest display of the Championship campaign.

Swansea City’s mean machine defensive system will be looking to shut-out Wayne Rooney’s Derby County side and make it 11 Championship clean-sheets tonight. The 2-0 south Wales derby win at Cardiff City Stadium last weekend made head coach Steve Cooper’s Swansea side the best defensive unit in the Football League system and helped them to hang on the coat tails of the top two as the promotion race hots up. “You can put positive or negative records in front of me, but I just want to make sure we keep going and get ready for the next game,” said Cooper.

Swansea City’s Steve Cooper has revealed that Gerard Houllier played a big part in his rise from novice coach to future age group World Cup winner and Championship boss. In adding his own tribute to the former Liverpool manager, who died at the age of 73 on Monday, former England U17s chief Cooper recalled the help he had given him when Houllier was managing at Lyon. “He was very good to me when I did my pro licence. I spent a week at Lyon when he was manager there,” said Cooper.

Steve Cooper was as good as his word – dedicating a Swansea City derby day victory to absent supporters he had promised to make the central actors even though they are far from the stage. The Swans head coach insisted all his players and staff stay on the field for their post-match celebrations and rallying cries following their 2-0 victory at the Cardiff City Stadium. There may be some who felt Cooper was simply rubbing salt into local wounds, but the man himself was unequivocal before the game that fans were at the forefront of his thinking after nine months away from live action.

As with his talent and stardom, Andre Ayew wears his wealth lightly which is why he has few hang-ups over discussing being the best-paid player in the Championship. The Swansea City striker – who hopes to finally score against rivals Cardiff City on Saturday – is regularly described as the biggest earner in the division. The label is most often used not by the media, but by opposition managers who offer it up by way of explanation as to why their team were unable to stop Ayew from dominating the match just ended.