Steve Cooper: Championship fixture list unfair says Swansea City boss

Swansea City kept a 14th league clean sheet of the season in Saturday’s 2-0 win at Barnsley

Steve Cooper has claimed the Championship fixture list is “unfair” as Swansea City prepare for Tuesday night’s meeting with Blackburn Rovers.

Swansea made the long trip to Barnsley for a televised fixture on Saturday night.

They will be back on their travels again for a midweek game at Ewood Park.

“We’ve got to go to Blackburn on Tuesday and we’re still in Yorkshire at twenty past ten on a Saturday. It’s unfair,” said Swans head coach Cooper.

“We’ve got four days of travel, truth be told.

“It’s going to be really tough, a quick turnaround for Tuesday. Is it unfair and unkind? Yeah. Would they do it to some of the other clubs in our league? No chance. Sometimes we get that treatment, but we’ll get on with it.”

The EFL has declined to comment.

Swansea’s 2-0 triumph at Oakwell boosted their automatic promotion hopes.

The second-placed Swans have a four-point cushion over Bournemouth, who are third, ahead of the meeting with mid-table Blackburn.

Cooper, who hopes to add new faces to what is a fairly small squad this month, says keeping players fit and available will be key in the second half of the season.

“What’s important this year is that this is a season for adapting,” he said.

“We’ve had really busy periods already, nine games in 29 days (earlier in the season), that’s never been done before.

“I’ve said all along, player availability is key to giving yourselves the best chance this year.

“The players have taken great responsibility for that in terms of their recovery, nutrition, making sure they get the right amount of sleep and looking after themselves. The more fresh our boys can be going into games the better.”