Steve Cooper says Rhian Brewster is loving life at Swansea City and believes his goals can help fuel a surge into the play-offs. Brewster scored the opener in the Swans’ 2-1 win at home to Sheffield Wednesday on Sunday to make it three goals in four matches for the Liverpool loanee, plus the shot that forced a goalkeeper’s own goal at Millwall. The young striker has looked hungry and purposeful since the season resumed and although he went off with a shoulder injury before the end, it is not considered serious and he should be fit to play at Birmingham City on Wednesday.

Jake Bidwell still believes Swansea City can launch a late surge into the play-offs to give their fans something to bask in after a miserable summer. The Swans defender insists today’s (Sun) home game with Sheffield Wednesday can prove a launch pad to repeat their early season form in which they won five and drew one of their first half dozen matches. That, says Bidwell, would lift the mood after figures showed Wales has suffered the highest rise in business collapses in the UK since March.

Steve Cooper has urged his Swansea City players to keep their faith as their play-off hopes continue to fade. The Swans manager had little to offer but optimism after his side were held to a 1-1 draw at Millwall that moved them up to eighth in the Championship table. But they remain four points adrift of the play-off places with games fast running out and the only consolation of a disappointing night was the fact that Cardiff City failed to extend that gap to six points.

Steve Cooper is ready to shake things up at Swansea City after questioning his players’ attitude during their jolting home defeat to bottom club Luton Town. The Swansea City head coach was unimpressed by his players’ mental approach and said he would consider swift changes for the next game at Millwall on Tuesday night. The defeat undid the good start to the resumption the Swans had achieved with their 3-0 away win at Middlesbrough and leaves the club back in 10th position in the Championship, four points adrift of the play-off places.

Rhian Brewster captured the headlines for Swansea City last week, when his two goals in the 3-0 victory at Middlesbrough included a celebration that showed her personal commitment to the Black Lives Matter movement. Swans manager Steve Cooper believes the 20-year-old is maturing fast – on and off the field – and says the on-loan Liverpool striker, who faces Luton Town at the Liberty Stadium today, is capable of fulfilling his career ambitions.

Steve Cooper insists it took no arm-twisting to ensure Wayne Routledge, Kyle Naughton, Mike van der Hoorn, Nathan Dyer and Erwin Mulder stayed on for Swansea City’s promotion push. The five players were all due to be out of contract by June 30, which would have placed a doubt over their availability for the remainder of this extended season. Their deals have all been renewed until 4 August, the date of the Championship play-off final, but manager Cooper says it was a painless process even though injuries could leave them in a vulnerable position if they eventually turn to other clubs.

Steve Cooper heaped praise on Rhian Brewster after the Swansea City striker gave a performance as powerful as the anti-racism message he displayed at Middlesbrough The 20-year-old Liverpool loanee struck twice inside three first-half minutes, unveiling a T-shirt bearing the message “Our colour is not a crime” while celebrating the first, as the Swans ran out 3-0 winners at the Riverside Stadium on their return to action. Andre Ayew wrapped up a win which keeps his team firmly in the race for the play-offs with a 34th-minute penalty on a day when struggling Boro, who have won only twice in the league since the turn of the year, simply gave themselves too much to do with a dreadful start.

Rhian Brewster and Conor Gallagher will be re-launched at Championship rivals today as Swansea City bid to achieve an unlikely promotion.  Head coach Steve Cooper – who takes his team to Middlesbrough for their resumption of the campaign – hopes he can keep the young starlets in Wales next season, too. Liverpool forward Brewster and Chelsea’s Gallagher – both 20 – are on loan at the Liberty Stadium and their deals to stay in south Wales expire at the end of June.

Neil Harris has warned that it could take four or five matches for teams to get back to their normal match intensity when the season resumes next week. The Cardiff City manager has prepared his team for their first game after the shutdown with two training match sessions against Swansea City at the Cardiff City Stadium on Saturday. The Championship rivals played out two 80-minute games behind closed doors that ended 0-0 and 1-1, but Harris believes it will take a handful of games after their clash at home to leaders Leeds United next Sunday for his side to hit their normal levels.

Steve Cooper has insisted lots of clubs would love to be where Swansea City are as the Championship run-in gathers pace. The Swans boss is in bullish mood even though Saturday’s 0-0 draw at home to leaders West Brom dropped the home side a place in the table to 11th. Perversely, however, the gap between the Swans and sixth-placed Preston has narrowed to three points – a margin that Blackburn Rovers were unable to take a chunk out of, either, after their 3-0 Sunday defeat to Derby.

Steve Cooper has insisted his Swansea City side will come back stronger after their “gut-wrenching” loss of two precious promotion-chasing points at Blackburn Rovers. For the second successive match, the Swans conceded a significant goal in injury time as they surrendered the lead to draw 2-2 at Ewood Park. Three days after losing to an injury time goal at Fulham, a deflected strike gave Rovers an equaliser in the 95th minute to leave Cooper’s side four points adrift of the play-offs, instead of the two points they would have been had they held out.

An apoplectic Steve Cooper has insisted Swansea City will go above the normal level of feedback to complain about referee Tim Robinson. Swans manager Cooper was left in a despairing fury over the calls made by Robinson after seeing his team lose 1-0 at Fulham where a succession of critical decisions went against the away side. Aleksandar Mitrovic missed a controversial 87th-minute penalty before the striker sealed Fulham’s  victory with a header in the fourth minute of added time.