Wayne Routledge a doubt for Blackburn clash

Steve Cooper confirmed Wayne Routledge is a major doubt for Swansea City’s Championship showdown against Blackburn Rovers on Wednesday.

Routledge has not played since sustaining a calf problem in the 1-0 defeat by Millwall at the Liberty last month.

The experienced winger is set to miss out again on Wednesday as Swansea aim to bounce back from last weekend’s defeat at West Brom, but he could be available for the visit of Middlesbrough on Saturday.

Head coach Cooper also revealed that Declan John will miss the Swans’ home double header with a hamstring strain.

“Nobody came out of the West Brom game with any knocks to stop them from being available for Wednesday,” he said.

“I don’t think Wayne will be available on Wednesday, but we’re hopeful he will be available for selection on Saturday.

“Declan picked up a slight hamstring strain on Friday that ruled him out of Sunday. 

“It’s not too bad; we’re still waiting for a full diagnosis, but he won’t be available for the two games this week.”

Cooper also said that the decision to replace Kristoffer Peterson at half-time of Sunday’s reverse at the Hawthorns was purely for tactical reasons, rather than injury.

“It was a tactical change; him coming off wasn’t an individual reflection,” he added.

“At 3-1 down, we felt that we needed something different to give us a spark to try and give ourselves a chance to get back into the game.

“It was just a decision that we made – sometimes it works for you and sometimes against you.”