WE’RE STARTING AGAINST TYKES,
STEVE Cooper believes Swansea City’s results against Barnsley this season will count for nothing when they take on the Tykes in the Championship play-offs.
The Swans secured a pair of 2-0 wins over Valerien Ismael’s side during the regular season and play the first of their two semi-final contests against the Yorkshire outfit at Oakwell on Monday night.
Ahead of the first leg contest, Ismael stated his side are much improved from when they were beaten twice by Swansea in quick succession midway through the 2020/21 campaign.
And Cooper agrees with the Frenchman when it comes to assessing whether or not the most recent meetings will be a factor when the sides lock horns in the play-offs.
“I agree with what’s been said by some of our guys and I think some of their guys have said the same. I don’t think those games will have any bearing on these two coming up,” said the Swansea head coach.
“Things have changed in terms of the time of the season and their team will look slightly different. Ours certainly will. It’s the play-offs, it’s knockout football.
“We respect Barnsley a lot. They’ve had an excellent season, certainly in the second half of the season, the points return and the wins has been a real credit to their work.
“We know what we’re facing, it’s a really tough opponent. We believe in what we do and we back ourselves to take the game to the opposition, home or away.”
Barnsley are the slight favourites with bookmakers to progress into the play-off final – which takes place at Wembley on Saturday, May 29.
It also means the Swans are the outsiders with bookmakers when it comes to the four-way battle to reach the Premier League via the play-offs.
However, Cooper admits the outside noise on who is best placed to go up will not impact his side’s preparations for the two-legged tussle with Barnsley.
“I’m only focused on ourselves and our players,” he said.
“Some people are telling us that we’re fourth favourites and the other one is telling us they’re [Barnsley] underdogs. Zero interest from me.
“All I’m interested in is our preparation, our mentality and the support we give the players to back themselves.
“If we were playing one of the other two teams as well it would be exactly the same. We’ve got to really believe in what we do and how we work and try to deliver when it counts and that’s on matchdays.”
Swansea have been dealt a blow this week as academy product Brandon Cooper suffered a second ankle injury of the season.
The Wales Under-21 international is set for another lengthy spell on the sidelines, although Steve Cooper has confirmed the rest of his squad - including Andre Ayew and Ben Cabango - are available.
“Andre’s good and the rest of the squad are good,” he added.
“Unfortunately one of our younger players picked up an injury yesterday, Brandon Cooper. That’s ruled him out for a few months. He’s a good young player that we like.
“But in terms of the obvious names, everybody’s fine and we’ll be ready to go.”
SWANSEA City have shown an interest in signing former Bristol City midfielder Liam Walsh, Wales On Sunday understands.
The Swans are eager to bolster their midfield options this summer and have identified a number of possible targets to strengthen their squad.
It’s understood Swansea targeted the ex-Everton, Yeovil Town, Bristol City, Birmingham City and Coventry City man last summer before the Robins triggered an extension option in the midfielder’s contract.
However, on Friday, it was confirmed that Walsh was one of 11 players released by Nigel Pearson’s side following the conclusion of the Championship regular season.
Now a free agent, Walsh is on the lookout for a new club.
And the Liverpool-born midfielder has attracted interest from the Swans ahead of the transfer window.
However, interest in Walsh is believed to have cooled of late due to the 23-year-old’s struggles with injury during the 2020/21 campaign.
He excelled during a loan stint with Coventry City in the 2019/20 campaign but was restricted to just three appearances in the 2020/21 season at Ashton Gate.
Given that he is no longer contracted to Bristol City, a buying club would not need to pay a transfer fee for Walsh, who has represented England at Under-16 and Under-18 levels.