Steve Cooper says he looks back on his time with Swansea City fondly ahead of his return to the club with Nottingham Forest this weekend.
The Welshman spent two seasons with the Swans and led the club to back-to-back top six finishes in the Championship.
However, after failing to gain promotion into the Premier League, he opted against seeing out the final 12 months of his three-year deal and chose to leave Swansea in July.
But ahead of Swansea's clash with Forest on Saturday, Cooper says he has good memories of his time in SA1.
"I only have good things to say about Swansea; very positive. A lovely part of the world. A great club," he said.
“I really enjoyed working with the players and the staff in and around the club.
“I’m very fond of my time there; that hasn’t changed. There’s nothing more to add to it, just apart from it all being very, very positive.
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“We didn’t quite achieve what we ended up setting out to do. But I look back positively.
“I look back positively on all the jobs I’ve done, to be fair, even before Swansea.
“It helps you as a person, and it helps you as a professional; you try to take whatever you learnt into the next part of your journey.
“Swansea was a chapter of it, but so was the FA and stuff before that as well.
“The supporters, okay, I didn’t see loads of them all the time because of the pandemic, but the ones who I did have interaction with or who sent letters, were excellent with me.
“I appreciate that. However, I’m here now. Everyone has moved on.
"I was very fond of the players, very fond of the staff, and had some excellent relationships."
And on Saturday's match, Cooper commented: “I’m just focused on the game. Championship games are ones you have to prepare for in different ways. We are treating this no differently.
“It’s an away game, a tough game - like all these Championship games are. My mindset is just really on the normal process of working with the players here, and trying to be as best prepared as we can be for the next game.
“I’m not trying to underplay anything, but I’m just giving an honest view - I’m just really focused on the game for what it’s worth, whoever we were playing on Saturday."
Cooper won 47 of his 105 matches in charge of the Swans, giving him a win rate of 44.8%.
Forest have won six, drawn six and lost just one of their 13 matches since Cooper replaced Chris Hughton earlier this season.
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