Premier League News: Swansea Boss Gary Monk Preparing Striker Bafetimbi Gomis For Bigger Role In January

Swansea City manager Gary Monk is preparing second-choice striker Bafetimbi Gomis for a bigger role in January.

Primary option Wilfried Bony will link up with his national side - the Ivory Coast - before the biannual tournament kicks off on the seventeenth of next month, and is scheduled to end on Feb. 8.

Gomis' role has been limited since moving on a free-transfer from Olympique Lyon, starting only three of his fourteen appearances in the Premier League. Nevertheless, his record with Les Gones speaks for itself, wherein he showed that he can be an effective weapon upfront.

"Obviously we're coming up to a period where Bony will go to the African Cup of Nations and Bafi [Gomis] needs game time," said Monk.

"That was behind my decision and I thought Bafi did very well.

"He's a very good striker and could have got a couple of goals.

"Those minutes will help him hit the ground running when January comes and Bony goes away."

Meanwhile, Monk is trying to mix things up with his squad, introducing players who have not been as involved, to prevent regular starters from getting burnt out due to the hectic schedule.

"We have such a busy period coming up and, if you play the same 11 players in that period, that's suicide for me," he added.

"We haven't got the biggest squad, but we have got quality."

"We have a way of working where everyone understands what their roles are so I had no problem putting different players in those positions."

"I trust them and I think that trust was shown in the game."

"Some of them haven't had a hell of a lot of game time, but all credit to them, they dug in and got the result which is what it's all about."

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