‘Let’s harness all that frustration and get a result at Blackburn’
STEVE Cooper says Swansea City should use their anger and frustrations from the defeat to Fulham to their advantage when they face Blackburn this weekend.
Swansea looked on course to claim a share of the spoils at Craven Cottage on Wednesday night after Freddie Woodman made a stunning penalty save from Aleksandar Mitrovic before denying Neeskens Kebano’s follow-up shot late on.
But Mitrovic headed home deep into injury time to earn Scott Parker’s men all three points in what was a controversial fixture in the English capital.
Cooper, his coaching staff and players were left furious after a string of decisions went against them in the loss to the Cottagers.
And the Swansea boss has urged his troops to show the same spirit as they did in west London when they take on Tony Mowbray’s side at Ewood Park this afternoon.
“It’ll be a tough game. We had a difficult game at home, it was a midweek game earlier on in the season,” said the head coach.
“We were disappointed not to win that. Again, penalty decisions did not go our way in that one.
“I just think from the Fulham game and how we were dealt with, we’ve got to use our anger and frustrations to make a strong and positive impact in the game so we can take the best version of us out there.
“We need to stay strong and together, and continue to plan and play as we want the team to.
“If we can show the fight, desire and pride that we did against Fulham then we’ll give ourselves a chance.”
Swansea were backed by more than 1,500 supporters in the defeat to promotion-chasing Fulham.
The Jack Army face another long trip this weekend as the Swans head to Lancashire for what will be their third match in eight days.
And Cooper reserved special praise for the Swansea faithful for the way their backed their troops in the gut-wrenching defeat to the Cottagers.
“I’ve got to say, we had more than 1,500 fans at Fulham and they owned the stadium,” added Cooper.
“They completely dominated the noise.
“I felt really sorry for them as they have to go three or four hours back down the M4, they paid a lot of money to support us and I really respect that.
“We are grateful for it, I am and I know the players are too. So, I really want to show them my gratitude.
“I know I speak about them a lot, but to travel to Fulham and make the noise they did and completely run the atmosphere at the stadium... the outcome was unfair on them too.”
Wayne Routledge (knee), George Byers (ankle) and Mike van der Hoorn (knee) will all miss the clash with Rovers this weekend.
Bersant Celina was absent from the squad that lost to Fulham in midweek due to illness.
But Cooper is hopeful that the Kosovan will be in contention to return to action.
“He’s struggled for a few days with a sickness bug.
“It’s not just him being ill, it’s making sure that he doesn’t pass it on to the other players,” added the 39-year-old.
“I’ll be led by the doctor on that one. We’ll wait and see, but we’re hopeful.”