Your Swansea City headlines for Thursday, March 17.
Transfer expectation revealed
Matt Gill says it's "inevitable" that there will be a significant squad turnover at Swansea in the summer.
Players including Yan Dhanda, Ben Hamer and Ryan Bennett are expected to leave the club while Russell Martin is keen to bring in more recruits to suit his style of play. You can read more about that here.
It comes after the current coaching staff had just one month to conduct business in the previous summer window having arrived at the club on August 1.
And technical development coach Gill says preparations for the upcoming market are well under way. "I'd hope so in some aspects, there'll be some squad churn, it's inevitable," he said when asked if he expects a hectic transfer window. "We're obviously prepared for that. That's why the last period of the season is important.
"It's pretty obvious from what we've seen and how we're working where we need to strengthen. It's an exciting time without shadow of a doubt, going into a summer window and having a full window and a full pre-season.
"That was hugely missed this season, coming in late, so that's something we're all excited about, the manager especially, regarding having a full pre-season and window and really building a squad that can really improve and move things forward."
Obafemi reveals target
Michael Obafemi says reaching double figures in goals is his short-term aim this season.
The striker notched a brace in Swansea's 3-2 win over Peterborough to take his tally to seven for the term, with six of those efforts coming in his last nine appearances.
And the 21-year-old says he is determined to extend his impressive run of goal scoring form over the course of the final 10 games of his debut campaign at the club.
“I am just glad to be scoring goals and contributing, but I don’t want to just stop and think this is it, I want to keep going and get a few more," he told the club website. “My job is to score goals, that’s what strikers are paid for. I’ve got my targets in my mind of what I want to do. I think double figures has to be the first aim, I hope I can get there quickly and keep going from there.”
READ MORE: Pundit reveals reason why Swansea City's Joel Piroe is 'one of the best' strikers in Championship
Cooper update
Brandon Cooper will return to training in the summer after sustaining a season-ending knee injury during his loan stint with Swindon Town.
The Welshman swiftly established himself as a pivotal figure for the League Two outfit but had his spell with the Wiltshire-based side cut short earlier this month. He has since returned to his parent club to begin his rehabilitation, and Russell Martin has revealed the injury is not as bad as initially feared.
"He's back. He started his rehab with us. Ben Garner from Swindon phoned me to let me know [about the injury]," said Martin. "They're really disappointed because Brandon's done well. Really gutted. When I spoke to him, he was really fearful that it was going to be a bigger injury than it is.
"His season is done, but it could have been worse, so he'll be back for pre-season which is a positive because he missed all of pre-season this season because of injury. I'm just gutted for him. It's been tough for him. He was brilliant in the few games for us but found opportunities limited. We were hoping to get him 25 games there but it's been cut short.
"He's got a great mentality and it gives him a chance now to work on the areas he needs to. He's signed a new contract here because hopefully long-term he'll be part of what we're trying to do."
Blues injuries mount
Birmingham City are sweating on the fitness of Teden Mengi and Lyle Taylor ahead of their trip to Swansea this weekend.
Mengi was withdrawn during his side's 2-0 loss to Middlesbrough on Tuesday night while Lyle Taylor missed out on the matchday squad altogether.
“Lyle did his calf yesterday, and Teds [Mengi] has done the same hamstring," confirmed boss Lee Bowyer.
Blues boss Bowyer was less than impressed with his side's efforts against Boro in midweek. And he says his troops need to significantly improve if they are to pose Russell Martin's men problems on Saturday.
“Tonight wasn’t good enough in lots of ways. I’m the person in charge and I take full responsibility for that. But sometimes the players have to look at themselves and ask if their performance was acceptable," he said after the loss to Chris Wilder's outfit. We lost every battle on the pitch and that hurts me a lot. I didn’t see enough passion out there tonight.
“We have to dust ourselves down. You win together, you lose together. Against Bristol City, we did the basics right and there were a lot of positives, but we have to do the same again on Saturday against Swansea.”
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