Steve Cooper | We can go into play-offs knowing we have progressed this season
Steve Cooper has hailed the progress his Swansea City side have made this season, as they prepare to round off the league campaign at Watford.
The Swans have been in the upper reaches of the Championship table for the entirety of the 2020-21 campaign, going head to head with the likes of the Hornet, Norwich and Bournemouth, who have benefited from retaining the majority of their Premier League squads from the previous season.
Cooper’s side will again finish in the play-off places, and their points tally of 80 so far this term makes them just the fifth Swans side to reach that total.
A win at Vicarage Road would take them to 83, the third-best total accumulated in club history, and some 13 more than they managed last season.
All of which means the head coach is in positive mood as his side gear up for another crack at the play-offs.
“We want to play these 46 games and go into the play-offs knowing we’ve given the league campaign all that we’ve got,” said Cooper.
“When you go into the play-offs, you go there knowing you’re in a certain position for a certain reason.
“Whether we get 80, 81 or 83 points, it’s a good return. It’s progress on last season in what has been a unique season in terms of scheduling for everybody.
“I think the players deserve a lot of credit for it, because it’s been tough. It’s difficult to talk about a conclusion because we know we’ve got what is the most important part to come, which is the play-offs.
“The players, if you put everything into the mix, they deserve a hell of a lot of credit. But we’re only just focused on the play-offs really while using Saturday as part of that preparation.
“You can say the clubs in the automatic places, and most of the clubs not in the play-offs as well, have bigger budgets, so it’s been a really good effort from the boys.
“Sometimes what we may lack in resource we try to make up in spirit, togetherness, how we work and how we try to play. Fortunately, that doesn’t cost anything."
