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Steve Cooper will be looking for a response from his Swansea side when they make the short trip to face Cardiff on Sunday following their humiliating 5-1 defeat against QPR in the FA Cup over the weekend.

The Swans boss named a weakened side against the West London outfit, and the makeshift starting line-up suffered an emphatic defeat as a strong QPR team booked their place in the fourth-round draw in some style.

It should be remembered that Cooper decided to rest a number of key figures ahead of the South Wales derby this coming weekend, but there were still a number of senior figures involved during the Swans' heavy loss in London.

However, the Liberty Stadium side enter the all-important derby clash in a decent run of league form, with Cooper's men having sealed victory in three of their last five Championship games following the 1-0 win over Charlton last week.

The success over Lee Bowyer's side propelled Swansea back into the play-off places ahead of the Cardiff clash, but there was one key negative to come out of the win over the Addicks as Mike van der Hoorn was substituted with an injury problem.

The centre-back had missed Swansea previous two league matches against Brentford and Barnsley with an issue, and it was the same problem that recurred last Thursday night as Van der Hoorn left the pitch after 58 minutes.

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This then saw the defender ruled out of Swansea's FA Cup visit to QPR over the weekend, with this leaving Brandon Cooper and Jake Bidwell to operate at centre-back, seeing as Joe Rodon, Ben Wilmot and Van der Hoorn were all ruled out.

Swansea are yet to confirm whether Van der Hoorn will be fit to start for the Swans at the Cardiff City Stadium on Sunday, and it would be a significant blow if the Dutchman is not fit enough to play alongside Ben Wilmot at the back.

This is because Van der Hoorn adds some much-needed experience to a relatively youthful Swansea defensive line, and Cooper's side will certainly need the 27-year-old's know-how and composure in a difficult derby test.

His absence would mean Swans academy product Ben Cabango would start next to Wilmot at centre-back and, while the 19-year-old has performed well in Van der Hoorn's absence, it may be too soon for him to feature in the South Wales derby.

The Swans will be keen to avoid Van der Hoorn suffering another recurrence of the injury which he has struggled with of late, but it seems almost crucial that the Welsh side have the defender fit for the upcoming meeting with the Bluebirds.