Roberts could be the last man as ever-present
SWANSEA City could be without two key stars as they host Rotherham United at the Liberty Stadium this weekend.
Speaking at his pre-match press conference, Steve Cooper confirmed Andre Ayew and Marc Guehi are both doubts for the Championship clash with the Millers.
The pair returned to south Wales prematurely during the international break due to muscle soreness.
“Andre and Marc Guehi both came back early from international duty,” said the head coach.
“It was more precautionary than anything else. They’d had a really busy schedule and they’d played every minute of every league game up until now, and then going into a full on international camp, they’re naturally going to be tired.
“Like everybody, they’re at risk of fatigue and from fatigue you can start feeling muscle soreness etc.
“They’re doubts I guess for the weekend, but we haven’t made a final call on it yet.”
Should they miss out, it would mean - if he got the nod to start - Connor Roberts would be the only Swansea player to play every single minute of league action for the Swans so far this term.
The game against Rotherham takes place less than three days after Roberts played the full 90 minutes for Wales as they secured top spot in their Nations League group by beating Finland 3-1 at Cardiff City Stadium.
It comes after the right-back played for the duration of his country’s 0-0 friendly draw with the United States of America at the Liberty Stadium six days earlier.
There will no doubt come a point where even Roberts – who Cooper recently described as a “ridiculous athlete” - will need to be taken out of the firing line.
The same happened to captain Matt Grimes who saw his run of playing every single minute in 89 consecutive Championship matches come to an end before the international break.
Of course, Cooper could spring a surprise and include Ayew and/or Guehi against Rotherham, but Roberts himself is proving undroppable at present.
After being left out of the starting XI on multiple occasions during Cooper’s debut campaign at the club, Roberts has grown in the right wing-back role.
He already has two assists to his name this season and is providing the kind of attacking threat he delivered under Graham Potter. However, even the athletic Roberts will struggle to retain his place this season.
“I just think in terms of rotating, or changing the team, that’s going to be a necessity at certain times of the season just because of the nature of it,” said Cooper.
“I don’t think there’ll be many players playing every minute of every single game, barring goalkeepers.
“There will be a lot of unavailable players for every team across the course of the season.
“In terms of selection of team and subs, you always make decisions with the best intentions and sometimes they work and sometimes they don’t.”
With only 11 games of the league campaign gone, Cooper has already had to rotate his squad on numerous occasions in a bid to cope with the brutal nature of the schedule.
Ahead of the game against Paul Warne’s side, the EFL have confirmed clubs can now make five substitutions per game.
As part of the rule change, Championship clubs are permitted to name 20-man matchday squads instead of the usual 18.
It will gives the likes of fringe players including Liam Cullen and Jordon Garrick a greater chance of being involved on matchdays as well as providing them with a better opportunity to get minutes under their belts.
But in Roberts, Swansea have an absolute monster of an athlete who looks capable of thriving in what truly are testing times for any footballer.