DAVID Cotterill believes his move to Swansea City may have saved his Wales career.

The winger reckons he is starting to fulfil his potential following his £600,000 switch from Sheffield United.

And after impressing Paulo Sousa, Cotterill hopes to show John Toshack what he can do in Wales's friendly with Sweden at the Liberty tonight (7.45).

Cotterill was frozen out of the Wales set-up for a spell following criticism of Toshack's selection three years ago.

But the former Wigan man hopes his four goals in 12 Swansea games will see him play some part this evening.

"I've been doing well in recent games for Swansea and, if I can continue that, I hope to get a sniff of a chance with Wales," said Cotterill.

"The gaffer (Sousa) has given me a lot of confidence and I like the way we play at Swansea.

"Playing here has helped me push for a cause for a place in the Wales team. I was starting to be left in the cold at Sheffield United — I was on the bench quite a lot near the end — and it wasn't good for me at club level or national level.

"I understand that if you are not playing regularly for your club then you won't be in the frame for selection at national level.

"So Swansea helped me put myself back in the window for Tosh, and it seems to have worked so far."

Having scored the winning goal against Peterborough last weekend, Cotterill is hopeful of giving Toshack plenty to think about ahead of the Euro 2012 qualifiers which begin in September.

"I'm glad to be part of the Wales squad, but I really want to be part of the starting XI," revealed Cotterill.

"I have 15 caps, but I want to win a lot more.

"Simon Davies is back and he's playing regular Premier League football, so it is hard to break in.

"But I'm hoping to feature in the game, especially as it's on familiar ground.

"It would be great to play in front of the Liberty crowd for Wales, but I know the gaffer has a lot of players to choose from.

Improve

"But Tosh has seen me improve a lot at Swansea and I'm hoping he will give me my chance against Sweden."

Cotterill also praised the decision to stage the Sweden friendly away from the Millennium Stadium.

"I watched the rugby last week at the Millennium and there was a full house, so I was pretty envious," he added.

"The England home game in the Euro qualifiers will undoubtedly be packed, but for games like this it is better to be at the Liberty or at Cardiff's ground.

"We needed to get out of the Millennium because there was no atmosphere.

"A lack of atmosphere can affect players, while the pitch wasn't the best at the Millennium either."

Chris Barney