Monk deserves chance

Brendan Rodgers is happy to see Garry Monk given a chance to manage in the Premier League after pushing him in that direction during their time together at Swansea.

Monk was appointed as the Swans’ interim player-manager earlier this month following the sacking of Michael Laudrup and will take charge of his fifth game against Rodgers’ Liverpool at Anfield tomorrow.

Monk has played for Swansea in all four divisions and was club captain when Rodgers was manager of the club between 2010 and 2012. The Liverpool boss said: “I speak a lot with the senior players whatever team I’m at and obviously at the time I was there he was a magnificent captain for me. In a lot of our conversations, which were very open, I said to him I thought he should start thinking about his coaching, two to three years before he finishes playing.

“He was always a bright lad, always very honest and loyal as a captain, but he was one I could see having a future in coaching and management if he wanted to go down that route.

“Of course it’s probably come unexpectedly, being put into the Premier League, but he’s looked very calm and seems to be enjoying it.”

Meanwhile, Granada are considering a permanent move for Liverpool’s Tiago Ilori after the Portuguese defender’s impressive start to life in the Primera Division. Ilori, 20, joined the Andalusian club in January until the end of the season and, despite making just two appearances, has impressed enough to leave sporting director Juan Carlos Cordero pondering a future transfer.

“When the end of the summer comes we’ll see if he is wanted by the Liverpool first team or if they want to sell or loan him,” said Cordero. “This is something that does not need to worry us now, it will come in due course.”

Swansea head into tomorrow’s game upbeat after an encouraging display in Thursday’s Europa League 0-0 draw against Italian outfit Napoli. Monk said: “Hopefully, for us going forward, we can take the confidence from that sort of game and take it into our Premier League form. We have shown if you can compete with someone like Napoli, you can compete with anyone.”