Tomorrow afternoon, Swansea host Derby County at The Liberty Stadium as the Swans look to edge closer towards a play-off place.

Derby will provide a stern test against their hosts tomorrow afternoon, but manager Cooper is relishing the clash against a Rams side that has done well of late.

Phillip Cocu's team have won three out of their last five as they look to break into the top half of the table and with them being just ten points off of the top six, Derby may hold some hope that they can still challenge for promotion.

WalesOnline were reporting from Cooper's pre-match press conference, where he commented on Derby (13:40): "They’ve obviously had some good results of late, and a good one last week against Stoke.

"They’re a big club in the division with a lot of well-known players. An experienced and well-known manager as well. It’s no surprise that they’re doing well. But we’re at home and we’ve done well recently."

England's top scorer on the international stage, Wayne Rooney, has had a lot of hype around his arrival at Pride Park since joining last month and the Swansea manager was complimentary of the talent that he still possesses.

On Rooney, Cooper said (13:41): "There’s obvious quality that he still possesses on the ball and we have to be mindful of that.

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"He catches the attention but they have other good players as well. But we’re at home and we want to take the game to them."

Swansea dropped down from the Premier League in 2018 and the Swans dream of a return to the top tier of English football, with Cooper putting the Welsh club in a strong position heading into the final few months of the season.

Cooper was vocal about the promotion challenge heading into the Derby clash, where he said (13:43): "We’re certainly getting to that stage. You get through February which is notoriously a busy month with a lot of games and you’re close to countdown then.

"We know we’re in an important period so we very much want to capture that and make the most of it. We’ve got three games in the next week, there are nine points to play for and that can make the difference in a number of ways.

"It’s important that we recognise the present and don’t look back. We’ve got to make things happen now. We’ve got to make sure that we deliver now.

"It’s not about getting to the end of February and seeing where we’re at. We’ve got to make sure we do take it step by step."

Centre-back Joe Rodon has been one of Swansea's stars this season despite spending three months out on the sidelines but his form has attracted the interest of Manchester City, Arsenal, Chelsea and Leicester City.

When asked about the speculation surrounding the Welsh international, Cooper said (13:45): "I think any good player in the league will be linked with moves.

"It’s amazing, we just come out of the January window and here we go, we’re answering questions straight away.

"I think for Joe and all of the boys, they’ve got to focus on playing well and training well and in the end your ability takes you to where you belong. If that’s a higher one for any of our boys then I’m sure they’ll have the opportunity to get there.

"We just felt that he looked well enough in training to go straight back into the team. He proved us right really and he reminded us of his level of play, he’s just got to keep it going now."

Form at The Liberty Stadium was a concern for Cooper and Swansea during the early stages of the season but the Swans have managed to crawl through a tough period and have gone unbeaten in their last five games at home.

Cooper was asked about Swansea's form at The Liberty Stadium, where he said (13:48): "You want it to be the case, you want to win games at home and be playing well. We got through a sticky period.

"We started well then went through a period of not picking up three points there. But it’s about being in the present and attacking every game that’s in front of you.

"We want to be positive at home and on the front foot. I think if you do that and you get the fans behind you, we’ve seen the atmosphere that the fans can create there.

"It’s a busy week, nine points to play for and two of those games at home. We’ll cross QPR when we get to it as we’re very much focused on Derby now. It’s a game to look forward to."