Jubilant Michael Duff explains why Ollie Cooper sums up Swansea City's revival
The Swans boss was delighted by Ollie Cooper's impact off the bench
Michael Duff says Ollie Cooper's sensational impact off the bench is a testament to the togetherness that is driving Swansea City's recent revival.
The Welshman came off the bench just moments before belting in a sensational second goal for his side during the 3-1 win over Plymouth Argyle at Home Park. It's now four wins on the bounce for Duff's side, and Cooper is one of three substitutes to have found the net over the last four games.
Cooper has largely struggled to earn a place in Duff's starting line-up this season, but this strike was a timely reminder of what he can bring to the Swans - and perhaps even Wales boss Rob Page. But despite Cooper's hard work in getting into the starting XI, Duff has been delighted by the way he, and others, have continued to push on the training ground.
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"I can't remember what game it was, but I criticised the subs for not impacting the game," Duff said after this latest win.
"It's a squad game. Ollie's come on in the last few games and impacted it. Jay Fulton's been excellent when he's been coming off the bench. Myko affected it last week. Even Walsh and Harrison Ashby. They only came on for the last few minutes, but they're important minutes.
"I go back to togetherness all the time. When you're not in the team you have a responsibility. Players can't be emotional. They have to understand that if they're not in the team they have to understand why they're not in the team. They can work on it. But their job is to push their colleague. On a matchday support their colleague. The come on and effect it.
"That can't be just when you're in the team. That's where they've been good."
Commenting specifically on Cooper's goal, the Swans boss added: "It was a really good goal. Ollie gives you slightly different things. If he's coming in off the right. Cullen holds his width a bit more as a wide forward, whereas Ollie drifts in. I think it was with Grimes who played a brilliant reverse pass to break a line, which is where we want him.
"Then that's individual ability. Nothing that we've done. It's individual ability to stick it into the bottom corner like that."
Swansea have now taken 13 points from their last 15, and now sit three points outside the top six. Duff clearly felt there were plenty of really strong positives to take into the home clash with Leicester City after the international break.
"I think we were good today," he added. "I think it was a good game. It was two teams going for it. There was some good football played. I think the thing that got us over the line was that we were slightly better in both boxes. I think some of the blocks we made were brilliant. Some of the doggedness and the resilience we showed was really good.
"We were quite calm at half-time. I thought we played pretty well first half. There were those killer moments where we couldn't quite find that one pass. Second half we landed the passes and got the ball in good areas again, and scored three good goals."