FOOTBALL FALLOUT FROM A BIG WEEKEND FOR SWANS, BLUEBIRDS
Swans defence takes the plaudits:
STEVE Cooper says a host of Championship clubs would be envious of the position Swansea City are in with just nine games of the season to go.
Swansea dropped to 11th in the table but closed the gap on sixth-placed Preston to just three points with this draw against West Brom.
And the Swansea boss said: “We are down a place in the league and a point closer to the play-offs — that sums up the Championship, doesn’t it?
“There’s nine games to go, three points away from getting over the dotted line.
“There are worse places to be. “I think about some of the teams who are below us who would do anything to be in the position we are in. We are only thinking really positively and we are going for this.
“We are really going to back ourselves.”
Swansea delivered an assured defensive display to hold the promotion favourites to a goalless draw.
But Cooper’s men will be ruing missed chances that could have earned them a statement win to get their play-off push back on track.
Midfielder Jay Fulton missed two gilt-edged opportunities in the second half after the Swans soaked up everything the former league leaders had to throw at them.
Aldo Kalulu was brought in as the only change to the Swansea side who suffered late heartbreak at Blackburn after Jordon Garrick was struck down by illness on Friday night.
The good news for Cooper was that Andre Ayew had recovered from a blow to the foot to start.
But he was only able to select six substitutes due to a lengthy injury list, loan restrictions and an outbreak of mumps.
West Brom made the Swans look like the away team in the opening exchanges as they dominated the early possession.
But for all their control it was Swansea who carved out the best chance of the first 20 minutes after Rhian Brewster nodded a long ball back into the path of Kalulu.
The winger found captain Matt Grimes, who spread the play wide for Jake Bidwell to play in Andre Ayew down the flank.
The Swans’ leading goalscorer whipped the ball in for the man who started the move, but former Swan Kyle Bartley got a last-ditch block in to send Brewster’s close-range shot wide.
Joe Rodon was next to go close after rising to head the ball towards goal at the back post, only to see his effort cleared away by Dara O’Shea at the crucial moment.
Ayew then got in the way of a Brewster effort, but from that point on Slaven Bilic’s men cranked up the pressure to send the Swans further back into their defensive shell.
Hal Robson-Kanu was half a yard away from getting on the end of Callum Robinson’s whipped ball before Grimes lost concentration for a split second.
The Swans midfielder gifted possession to Robinson and had Freddie Woodman to thank for sparing his blushes after the goalkeeper got a strong hand to the ball to parry the danger away.
After managing to survive until the half-time whistle, the hosts should have been ahead 40 seconds into the second period.
Grimes fired a shot from 25 yards that was parried into the path of Fulton, but the midfielder sliced the rebound over the bar from 12 yards.
He found the stands instead of the net again with another gilt-edged chance after Sam Johnstone tripped Conor Gallagher on the edge of the area.
Grimes pulled a low cross back for Fulton to run on to, but again he blazed his shot over the bar.
Ayew fired an ambitious bicycle kick wide after Bidwell’s cross, before Swansea had to withstand a late Baggies onslaught.
The best chance fell to Jake Livermore on the edge of the area but the midfielder fired over from 15 yards.