Steve Cooper talks up Andre Ayew and Swansea City competition

Swansea City boss Steve Cooper is excited by the keen competition for places in his set-up as Andre Ayew and teammates battle it out in the club's quest for Premier League promotion.

The Wales-based outfit is on course to make a return to the elite division for the first time since 2018 as they currently sit third in the Championship table.

On Saturday, Ayew, Swansea's second top scorer in all competitions so far this season, was left on the bench as the Jack Army handed Nottingham Forest a 5-1 thrashing in the FA Cup.

“I think any of the boys not in the starting line-up or not in the squad, they are always fighting,” said Cooper ahead of Wednesday’s league tie with Brentford, as reported by his club's official website.

“It’s the same for the boys in the team and the squad, they are fighting to stay in there.

“It’s not just in the forward positions, where we have signed Jordan [Morris], we have a number of good players that, if they are not starting in one game, are more than capable of starting and being involved in the next one.

"You just look at the weekend with Wayne Routledge and Liam Cullen played, and we also have Andre and Jamal [Lowe] in addition to Jordan.

“We have options, and I think that is healthy, especially with this schedule as you are probably going to need more than the normal-sized core of players.

“The more strength in depth we can have the better, competition for places is a good thing and we feel we have that in a number of positions.”

Ayew has been among Swansea's best performers this season, having registered eight goals in the Premier League.

He is continuing his exploits from last term when he finished as the club's top scorer after registering 15 goals in 44 Championship outings.

The 31-year-old will hope to continue his exploits in the league clash with Brentford on Wednesday. He has so far made 23 league appearances for Swansea, starting in all but one of the games.