Cooper happy with Swans draw but wants more

Steve Cooper has sent out a clear message to his players after they secured a play off position with a draw at Reading yesterday when he said “We want more than we had last season.”

The Swans secured a second successive play off campaign and, ironically, secured it on the same ground as they secured last year’s although this time around it may have lacked the drama of last season’s 4-1 win but ultimately remained enough to secure that top six finish.

Goals from Jamal Lowe and Andre Ayew looked to have given the Swans a win which would have lifted them back to 3rd in the table but a late equaliser at least earned the hosts a point even though it was in a game they had to win to keep alive their own play-off aspirations.

The Swans will now be joined by Brentford, Bournemouth and Barnsley to compete for a place in next season’s Premier League with matches starting on May 17.

“We are happy to be in there in the play-offs, we are satisfied, but we want more than we had last season.

“This club has had big moments, it has been in the Premier League, it has won a major honour and played in Europe, so I don’t want our ambition as a club to be that getting in the play-offs is an achievement.

“But at the same time, in the current world  a lot of teams invest  a lot of money in this league and unfortunately we have not been able to do that over my two years here.

“So, to think we still compete at the right end of the table is all credit to the players, we might not have a massive squad, and we might not have lots of strength and depth.

“But when it comes to spirit and style, and pride to play for a football club, we have those in abundance.”