Swansea City welcome back World Cup contingent

Swansea City head coach Russell Martin is looking forward to welcoming back his World Cup contingent ahead of Saturday’s game against Norwich.

Joe Allen, Ben Cabango and Olivier Ntcham all made the final squads for Wales and Cameroon respectively, while Ollie Cooper was on standby with Rob Page’s team in Qatar.

Allen featured in Wales’ group games against Iran and England, while Ntcham made an impact off the bench when Cameroon surprised tournament favourites Brazil.

The quartet are set to link up with the Swansea squad again early this week, with Championship action set to resume when the Canaries visit the Swansea.com Stadium this weekend.

And Martin believes the Swans World Cup contingent will be like new signings as they return to a group buoyed by a positive week-long training camp in Scotland.

“Ollie Cooper, Ben Cabango and Joe Allen are ready to go from Monday,” he said.

“Olivier will probably be back on Tuesday or Wednesday, depending on when he gets back into the country.

“We are really proud of all of them. Obviously Ben and Ollie did not get on the pitch, but everyone we have spoken to in the Wales set-up have spoken so highly of them.

“They have been a credit to the club in how they have conducted themselves, in how they trained and in how they supported their team-mates.

“It was brilliant to see Joe on the pitch and it was great to see him make it through it unscathed. I think he comes back to us in a really good place.

“I am sure there will be disappointment for the three of them because of how it went, but I think when you look at what Wales have achieved over the last number of years, it is incredible.

“I hope they come back with that frame of mind, and that they are looking forward to getting back to work with us.

“Olivier was incredible. He was injured for Cameroon’s first game, but he had a real impact in that game against Brazil when he came on. We were all watching it together and he showed what he can do.

“I am sure it stands him in good stead to come back to us.

“We are so proud of all of them, not many players can say they played for their country at a World Cup. They will be like four new signings walking back in through the door.”