TOWN boss Mark Cooper insists he is still fully focused and enjoying his job at Swindon Town.

Cooper was strongly linked with a move to Sheffield Wednesday last month. The Town boss looked on the verge of joining the Hillsborough club as head coach, working under Carlos Carvalhal in a director of football role.

Ultimately, the Owls gave the Portuguese the main job, with reports suggesting Cooper had turned down the offer.

However Cooper claimed after Tuesday night’s friendly defeat at Swindon Supermarine that he was unsure there was ever a formal approach from Wednesday.

The Town boss was keen to state his commitment to his job at the County Ground and is excited about the rebuilding work he has on his hands ahead of the new season.

“I think when jobs come up there’s a lot of speculation isn’t there,” Cooper told the local media.

“If you’ve had a reasonable season as a manager you get linked to jobs.

“Speculation was rife and I got linked to (the Wednesday job), I’m not sure if there was an approach or not, but it’s probably best leave that one to the chairman.

“I’ve got a job to do and I’ve got another season to go and I’m really looking forward to it.

“Until anything is done and dusted, cut and dried, you have to plan and prepare.

“I know the chairman and people at the club are working hard to try and bring the right kind of people into the club.

“You know (the team is going to get broken up), that’s where we are as a club. We look at the enjoyment of building a new team.

“We know it’s not going to be easy, but what we do have is a reputation of producing good players and I’m sure that in the next week or two we’ll have some good players at the club.”

There has been a murmur of a rift between Cooper and his assistant Luke Williams, with former captain Darren Ward making his feelings known about where his preferences lay upon his departure from the club.

Cooper was quick to dampen down those rumours. He insisted the relationship between himself and Williams is fine and that the difference in their roles means he has to play the bad guy.

“Me and Luke have not got a problem at all,” added the County Ground chief.

“We get on fine and we have our job to do and we do it. Luke’s a really good coach and there’s no problem with Luke at all.

“(Assistant manager) is a different role. When you’re a manager you can only keep 11 people happy. I’m the one that has to tell them they’re not playing or they have no future at the club, so I become the big bad wolf.

“When it’s their time to leave they can have their say, but it’s different when you’re a coach because you can’t be friends with all of them.”

The Swindon Advertiser was not permitted to attend Cooper's post-match duties.