UGLY DUCKLINGS TURN INTO SWANS

Boss Cooper tells his ragged team to grow up – and they do

STEVE COOPER told his Swansea kids to man up, and his brutal half-time hairdryer worked a treat.

The Welsh side were shocking before the break as they struggled to adapt to head coach Cooper’s wingback system.

But the second half was a different story as red-hot Liverpool loanee Rhian Brewster opened the scoring.

And Andre Ayew (right) grabbed his 16th goal of the season from the spot to make the game safe.

“I told the players at half time they had to be men and play with more courage, and they did that,” said Cooper. “The heart and commitment shown was excellent.

“We needed to show more belief in ourselves going forward. I was delighted to go 2-0 up but we did get a bit nervy late on.

“Wednesday threw caution to the wind and that’s when we needed to be men – to manage the game, keep the ball and try not to concede.”

Swansea’s defensive injury crisis meant that Joe Rodon and Ben Wilmot were out.

And Mike van der Hoorn and Ben Cabango were only fit enough for the bench, so Cooper opted for a three-man defence with Kyle Naughton as emergency centre-half and Connor Roberts and Wayne Routledge as wing-backs.

Wednesday winger Jacob Murphy had three great chances and his misses came back to haunt the visitors.

“Wayne having to play like a left back, not a wing-back, wasn’t the idea,” said Cooper.

“We had to talk through that at half time and it was better in the second half.”

Swansea were much better after the break and Brewster opened the scoring when he reacted quickest to Jay Fulton flicking on Roberts’ cross.

Ayew’s penalty doubled their lead after Adam Reach fouled Roberts in the box.

Brewster left the field late on using his shirt to support a shoulder injury, before Atdhe Nuhiu headed home a cross from fellow Wednesday sub Kadeem Harris in added time.

But Swansea did enough to hang on.

“Rhian had a bad shoulder anyway, which he did at the start of the Millwall game, but he hasn’t dislocated it,” said Cooper. “I’m sure he’ll be fine and want to play against Birmingham.”

Wednesday manager – and Swansea legend – Garry Monk said: “It’s so, so frustrating. For all the chances we had we couldn’t score and when you do that it leaves the door ajar.

“We played well in the first half, but in the second we had a few minutes of madness.”

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