These are your Swansea City headlines on Friday, February 4.
Cotterill: 'Incredible fee' for Ogbeta
Shrewsbury Town boss Steve Cotterill says they received an "incredible fee" from Swansea City for Nathanael Ogbeta.
Former Manchester City product Ogbeta moved to south Wales on deadline day, with Swans head coach Russell Martin keen to add a left wing-back to his squad following the departure of Jake Bidwell to Coventry City.
The transfer is believed to be worth in the region of £300,000 plus add-ons, which Cotterill believes is an excellent return for a player out of contract at the end of the season. The Shrews replaced Ogbeta with Matty Bondswell, a loan signing from Newcastle United.
“Matty’s completely the other end of the spectrum," Cotterill said. "He’s not really started his career too much yet, a little bit like Nathanael when he first came here.
“We’ve got to try to look at when we can put him in the team and what he’s going to offer us."
Asked on developing youngsters, he added: “Only when I think they’re ready to be thrown in.
“What you’ve got to be careful of when you’ve got kids is don’t ruin them.
“I said to him after his first section we’ve got some work to do to him. We deliberately played a bigger size pitch to see what he knew and how much he understood.”
“Nathanael’s gone, we’ve got an incredible fee considering he was out of contract at the end of the season, but a lot of work went into Nathanael. I see so many similarities with Matty.”
Ogbeta could make his debut against Blackburn Rovers on Saturday.
Team-mates give Pato stick
Martin is hoping to have Jamie Paterson back in the selection mix for tomorrow's clash with Rovers.
With his contract dispute now put to one side, Paterson is back training with the first team and Martin has revealed the reaction from the rest of the squad.
In typical fashion, they've given him a bit of a ribbing - a sure sign that things are getting back to normal.
"I think they’re disappointed he wasn't playing," the boss said.
"A lot of them would have had separate chats with him. Like myself they understand where Jamie was at and what he felt. Every one of them is pleased he’s back in the squad and he got a bit of stick as well! Which is to be expected."
Leon laces up his boots
Swans legend Leon Britton was named on the bench for Swansea Under-23s' clash with Wolves on Friday afternoon.
Kristian O'Leary's men headed to Burton for the Premier League Cup match.
Britton made a stunning return to the Swans back in October to take on an academy role, which would also allow him to pull on his boots.
He wasn't called into action today though, with Swansea drawing the match 2-2 having been 2-0 up.
“This is a fantastic opportunity for the young players at Swansea City to learn from Leon – he’s been there and done it, and is a fantastic role model,” Mark Allen told the club's official website when Britts was appointed.
“We have important principles and values at Swansea City. Leon is a prime example of someone who epitomises the Swansea Way, and that was evident during his long and successful career here as a player, and then as sporting director.
“He is an excellent addition to the club’s academy primarily as a mentor to these young lads, while he will also be available to contribute as a player at some point in the near future.
“The benefits our young players will take are endless, and they’ll take a tremendous amount from being a team-mate of Leon too.
“This isn’t a role which will prevent our players having an opportunity to play – Leon won’t play every minute of every game – it is a role which will bring so many benefits to the young lads in the academy who are hoping to move into the first-team frame.
“We look forward to seeing Leon once again play an important role at the club, and I’m sure the Jack Army will be delighted with his return.”
Mowbray's warning to Swans
Blackburn Rovers boss Tony Mowbray has warned Martin that he and his Swansea side need to find the right balance between possession and points.
Rovers head to the Swansea.com Stadium tomorrow with Mowbray already accepting his team will have less of the ball than their hosts.
Swansea have been dominant in terms of possession stats so far this season but they have struggled to translate that into victories.
Mowbray, who experienced the same issues last season, says a compromise must be reached in order to progress up the standings.
“Russell understands how he wants to play," he said.
“He moved to a back four in midweek against Luton so is looking at ways to win football matches.
“I wouldn’t envisage the playing style changes too much, they play a lot of football, pass it and dominate possession.
“I wouldn’t be surprised to see 60 or 70 per cent possession that Swansea have this weekend but that’s not something that has concerned us this season.
“We had similar stats last season and yet it didn’t win us enough football matches to get us higher than middle of the table.
“They’re finding it difficult at the moment to win football matches, but they’re not finding it difficult to dominate the ball and have possession and feel as though they’re on top in every game.
“Are the stats just a number? They are to a point but can give the players some confidence and belief, if Russell is telling his team that if you have 60 or 70 per cent possession then you’ll win more games than you lose then they have to find the answer to that.”
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