Steve Cooper was facing the press for the last time pre-match this afternoon as he started to put the final touches to his side’s preparation for the Championshhip play off final at Wembley on Saturday.
Cooper will lead his side out in the richest game of football knowing that a little over two hours later either he or Thomas Frank will be celebrating a place at next season’s top table of English Football and all the riches that come with it.
The game is estimated to be work ยฃ170m to the winners which clearly is an incentive enough but for both sets of players it should be the drive to want to test themselves against some of the best talent from this country and beyond in the professional game.
The Swans have of course been there before as Steve Cooper referenced as he took questions from local and national media “The club has been there before, quite some time before I was here, and that journey was a special one.
โThen it was taken away through relegation, and you have to re-establish yourself and rebuild with a different identity.
โWe have got to the last game of this season and given ourselves a 50/50 chance of winning โ which is what a final is โ and it is something we really have to go for.
โIt would mean everything to the city, it would mean everything to the club and everyone is aware of that.
โWe talk about it at length, amongst the players and staff, and it is a massive motivation to get the job done.
โAt the same time, we have to focus on the job at hand and what it takes to get it done; the performance, the mentality and winning the game.
โI can assure supporters we know exactly what it means, and it is our biggest motivation.โ