05 February 2021

Steve Cooper sees room for improvement despite victory over leaders Norwich

05 February 2021

Swansea head coach Steve Cooper believes his side still have room to improve despite their 2-0 victory over Sky Bet Championship leaders Norwich.

Andre Ayew put the Welsh side in front in the first half with a poacher’s finish before they proved their promotion credentials in the second period.

On-loan midfielder Conor Hourihane scored his third goal in three matches since arriving at Swansea from Aston Villa with a shot from 25 yards out, and the defence held firm to complete their 16th clean sheet of the season.

“We’re growing game by game and day by day, we’re a work in progress and nowhere near the end,” said Cooper.

“But it was a really good win and performance. We were good at times with the ball, we looked like getting in positions to create and score after a few passes and then we started the second half and went 2-0 up.

“Every team wants to keep clean sheets and we’re doing that. The first thing about Swansea’s identity is being on the ball, and we’re scoring as well.

“We want to do both sides as best we can and we’re working on both sides equally. We’re very clear about how we want the team to play and we’re getting good returns.

“You can’t put too much expectation on the lads, because they weren’t there at the start of the season and they’re still not there with 19 games to go.

“There are clubs not even in the top 10 with much more resources than us but we’re going well and enjoying the journey and that’s how we work.”

Norwich opened the door for Swansea and Brentford to knock them off the top and out of the automatic promotion places if they win their games in hand.

But manager Daniel Farke believes his side have the title-winning experience to turn their form around.

“This league is all about consistency and not so much about momentum,” he said.

“We have a squad that knows what is needed to lift the trophy.

“We are disappointed. It’s sometimes important to feel the disappointment. It was a tight game between two top sides.

“They are the best defence in the league, but also dangerous on the counter-attack.

“We made a crucial key mistake for the first goal and then we gave the ball away for the second.

“We tried everything, but they are good when they concentrate on sitting deep. We have to accept the loss.

“You will always have periods of a few games when you do not find the net.

“It’s not like we will be relegated or the season is over. We have to be there with 80 points to get in the play-offs and if you get 90 points you are in the top two.”

The best videos delivered daily

Watch the stories that matter, right from your inbox