Ghana captain Andre Ayew has been declared fully fit for Swansea City’s Championship clash with Watford on Saturday but club boss Steve Cooper reckons the Wales-based outfit will need to be careful with the attacker’s return to play.
The 31-year-old has been in and out of action since sustaining a hamstring injury during a 2-2 draw with Wycombe Wanderers last month.
He has been one of two major injury concerns for Swansea ahead of the final matchday fixture at Vicarage Road, the other player being England U21 defender of Ivorian descent Marc Guehi.
“Andre and Marc are back with us,” Cooper said at the pre-match press conference on Thursday, as reported by his club’s official website.
“Andre is fine, he has had no setbacks in terms of training and he is back in full availability.
“We will use him wisely, he will need some minutes at the weekend, he is desperate to play and there is nothing to hinder him from committing to that.
“We will be careful with his workload if we need to, but everyone is good to go and finish the season as strongly as we can. Marc has got over his groin issue and is good to go, after some load management.”
After sitting out of a 1-0 defeat to Queens Park Rangers following his injury, Ayew made a return against Reading but a setback during the game forced him out of the Jack Army’s 2-1 win over Derby County last week.
Swansea are heavily concerned about the Ghana star as the promotion Championship play-off immediately follows the regular season.
Eyes fully fixed on the Premier League, Swansea must fend off competition from Brentford, Bournemouth and Barnsley to grab the last available promotion ticket to realise their dream of making a return to the elite division for the first time since 2018.
Ayew has been the Jack Army’s talisman so far this season, his importance etched in his present status as the club’s top scorer.
In 42 appearances, the former West Ham United man has racked up 16 goals, two strikes more than the tally of closest contender Jamal Lowe.
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