Swansea depth delights Rodgers
A deflected Scott Sinclair effort and Danny Graham’s strike in injury-time secured the three points to move the south Wales club up to 11th in the table, ahead of a tricky run of fixtures which sees them face Newcastle, Everton and Tottenham in three of their next four games.
Rodgers had always stated his intention to make changes to his side with a busy festive period looming on the horizon, and he was as good as his word as Steven Caulker, back from a knee injury, Wayne Routledge and Luke Moore were all handed starts at the Liberty Stadium.
And the move paid off as the trio turned in excellent individual performances, with Moore deserving particular credit as the striker turned in an assured display in place of the suspended Joe Allen in midfield.
And Rodgers was delighted to see the trio take their chances as the Swans claimed a first victory in five games.
“I know their contribution is there now. That was important,” he said.
“We hadn’t won for a few games, even though we had good performances and I need players to know there is trust there from me as a manager. I have said I can’t go through the season with 11 players.
“It was an important win for the squad, a group win.”
Although delighted with the efforts of his players, Rodgers is keen to bring in around half-a-dozen new faces during the January transfer window.
And the Irishman revealed the club have made an improved offer for 19-year-old Cliftonville striker Rory Donnelly, who is attracting attention from a number of clubs, as well as stating an interest in NEC midfielder John Goossens.
While Rodgers cut a satisfied figure after another fine home performance, it was a miserable day for Fulham’s Clint Dempsey.
The United States international deflected Sinclair’s goal-bound effort beyond Mark Schwarzer for Swansea’s opener and then missed a glorious chance to equalise with just four minutes to go as Michel Vorm dived to his right to keep out his penalty kick after Karim Frei had gone down under Jazz Richards’ challenge.
Manager Martin Jol felt his side had paid the price for being too confident with the score at 0-0.
He said: “We took control after the goal and they had to defend, we had the penalty and we were all congratulating the little fellow [Frei] and it was awful to see Clint miss.”
Jol had left striker Bobby Zamora out of his squad amid speculation of a falling out between the pair.
The Dutchman played down those rumours but would not say whether the England forward would return for the Europa League clash with Odense.
“We will have a look at the team and see,” he said.
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