Steve Cooper had a clear message for his Swans team as they finished their preparations for tonight’s game in the Potteries when he said it is all about delivering where it counts,
The Swans will be looking to put their recent indifferent form behind them this evening and get a result at a place where, traditionally, we have struggled.
Two heavy defeats in our last three games have placed doubt over the promotion credentials of the Swans and Cooper will be looking to his team to not just deliver a result but a performance tonight to restart the belief that we are serious promotion contenders.
Cooper knows that promotion still remains with in the Swans control given our games in hand but that could all change this evening with the wrong result and he will be keen to focus them ahead of a manic period of games that will see us play 6 games in the next 17 days.
“This will be a tough one because Stoke have a really strong squad of players, that have experience and talent,” Cooper told the Official Site.
“They have players who have cost a lot of money – that’s for a reason – and you know that playing Stoke will be a strong test, regardless of what form they are in.
“We are treating it that way, but we really want to go there in the right frame of mind; confident and committed in how we play and what we can do on the night.
“There is so much that can still happen, as we know from last season, so topics about whether we have had a good season or not are for the end of the season really.
“Now it’s about delivering when it counts, which is on game days, and we have to make sure we are ready to go, because those are the things we are in control of.”