Swansea City manager Steve Cooper has praised Andre Ayew’s leadership qualities after the Ghana Captain fired the Swans into the Champions Playoffs.

Ayew was thrown on in the 65th minute of Swansea’s game against Reading where the Swans needed a point to secure a playoff spot.

The Swansea marksman who has been in top form this season duly stepped up to the plate and scored Swansea’s second goal which was enough to seal a point and qualify for the Championship Playoffs.

While Cooper acknowledged the contribution made by the whole team during the game, he had plenty of praise for man-of-the-match Ayew.

“All the subs played their part, Connor Roberts and Korey Smith have regularly started for us, and Morgan Whittaker is a young lad doing well for us,” said Cooper.

“We knew Wayne Routledge and Liam Cullen would not play 90 minutes, they both did well for us and we knew we would need our bench.

“Andre is a really good player and person, he thrives on being the big player and we are very happy to have him.

“The team comes first, not himself, and you could see that today.

“It would have been great if we didn’t need him, as it would have meant we were comfortable in the game.

“But we did, he was medically cleared to play 30 minutes, and it ended up being a good move thanks to the good work from Andre and the medical team.

“It helped get the result we wanted.”