Swansea face anxious wait on Rodon for clash against Bees
STEVE Cooper has said Joe Rodon is “touch and go” to be fit for Swansea City’s Championship clash with Brentford tonight at the Liberty Stadium.
The centre-back was withdrawn in the second half of Swansea’s 1-1 draw with Barnsley at Oakwell on Saturday after suffering a knock to his ankle.
It aggravated a problem he suffered in training three days earlier, with Rodon missing a training session ahead of the clash with the managerless Tykes.
And Cooper admits he is unsure whether or not the Wales international will be available for Sunday’s huge South Wales derby with Cardiff City at the Liberty Stadium.
“Joe came off on Saturday with an aggravated knock. It’s still inconclusive in terms of tomorrow – touch and go I guess is what it is,” said the Swansea head coach.
“Hopefully he will be fine but that’s not guaranteed. We are working round the clock to see how he is.
“If he is available great, if not we have good cover with Ben Wilmot and Ben Cabango.
“Joe had a kick last week in training and missed a couple of days. As always when you have a bit of a knock you get one again, but it’s nothing more sinister than that.”
And when asked if Rodon could return to action against Cardiff if not selected against Brentford, Cooper responded: “I don’t know to be honest.
“Let’s see if he is available for tomorrow. If he’s not we will address it from there.”
Rodon was replaced by Wilmot in the draw with Barnsley last time out.
Such has been the impressive partnership between Rodon and Mike van der Hoorn at the heart of Swansea’s defence, summer signing Wilmot has struggled for game-time since joining on loan from Premier League Watford.
His only two starts for the Swans came against Northampton Town and Cambridge United in the Carabao
Cup, with the central defender being restricted to just 22 minutes of league action.
But Cooper is confident that Wilmot and fellow defender Cabango are capable of stepping in if Rodon is unavailable to face the Bees and the Bluebirds.
“It was so unfortunate that we drew his (Wilmot’s) parent club in the League Cup. It’s good that he got some minutes in the England Under21s. He needed that,” added Cooper.
“He was needed to come on at the weekend and he was ready.
“It’s been a difficult one for Ben in terms of minutes. He is a good player, he trains really well and he is very much part of what we are looking to do.
“But we feel Mike and Joe have played well enough individually and as a pair to warrant staying in the team. It’s not often you make subs (in central defence).
“If and when his time comes, I know he will be ready and it’s the same with Ben Cabango, who is progressing well under us.”
Five days after the game with Brentford, Swansea take on Cardiff for the first time since February 2014.
And while the excitement levels have been raising on a seemingly daily basis among both sets of supporters ahead of the derby, Cooper was refusing to get drawn into the hype of the fixture.
“We’ve got a game tomorrow. It’s three points to play for. That is where our focus is,” said Cooper.
“You plan up until the international breaks in this first part of the season.
“They’re like little milestones. You look at what games are coming up because that’s when you start thinking about what training needs to look like and scheduling and things, but I’m not looking at it in terms of planning and things like that.”