Swans refuse to rule out recall for young Brandon
SWANSEA City boss Steve Cooper has refused to rule out a possible recall for highly-rated loanee Brandon Cooper, but insists he’s happy for the youngster to keep shining for Newport County for the time being.
The defender put in a stunning performance for Mike Flynn’s Exiles during their League Cup clash with Newcastle United in midweek, but ultimately suffered heartbreak after missing the decisive spot kick during the resulting penalty shootout.
The Swans boss has backed him to bounce back after that disappointment, and revealed he texted the centre-back to offer his support.
Speaking ahead of his side’s clash with Millwall this weekend, Cooper said: “I did watch the game. He was excellent. OK, he’s had a difficult moment with the penalty. I texted him straight after.
“OK, it’s a difficult for Newport as they haven’t gone through, but as young players you need to suffer those moments to grow and get better.
“The consolation for Flynny is that he was excellent against a full Premier League team and that bodes well for him.
“We’re delighted with his performance and while it feels painful now with the penalty, as I said in the message ‘ what hurts you can make you stronger’ and he has that attitude and mentality to make it that way, I’m sure.”
Cooper says the youngster isn’t far away from his first-team plans, but insists a spell at Rodney Parade is the best course of action for his development.
“It would’ve been very easy to keep Brandon and let him train with us. He’s young but he’s not a kid. As I’ve said before with the likes of Liam Cullen, they’re a little bit behind in terms of playing experience.
“I just think with Brandon and for the football club, for him to fulfil his potential, he needs to be starting games in the Football League and that’s what he’s doing.
“There is a recall in January,” he added, when discussing the terms of Brandon’s loan.
“That’s pretty normal with these season-long loans. Whether we need to take that or not will be situation dependent at that time.
“We’ll be monitoring every game that Brandon plays, as we do with all the players out on loan.
“He’s on an important part of his development. He needs to play regular league games. “