Joel Latibeaudiere who was quite badly injured in the home game against Millwall in August has made remarkable progress in his rehabilitation over the last six weeks. So much so he is determined to be included in the swans squad for the away trip to West Bromwich Albion on Saturday.

It’s still a long shot as he pushes himself day by day to be back at the peak fitness he was at before the shoulder injury he received after a collision against Millwall in mid August. When we say collision … some were pretty upset that the shoulder challenge by Murray Wallace wasn’t penalised in any way. Especially as the referee Gavin Ward was being very handy with yellow cards throughout the game.That aside, Joel has worked exceptionally hard and manager Russell Martin has spoken recently on this. “Lats has got a great mentality and attitude, he is desperate to be on the pitch helping his team-mates. He has remained a big part of the group even while he has been injured. He had the option of being conservative and having an operation, which would have meant longer out. The other was to let it heal naturally, which means a lot less time out. There’s no surprise Joel has chosen to go that way”

Great news for his manager to show such admiration for Latibeaudiere’s professionalism and endeavour. And the reward we now believe will be a new contract for the ex Manchester City player as his latest one runs out at the end of the season. Swansea City’s financial position isn’t fantastic but the club remains solvent on a carefully managed budget. Chief Executive Julian Winter confirmed that in last nights fans forum when he said. "I would say our wage budget is probably in the range of bottom third in the Championship. Being honest, that's about where we are. We will be bottom third. In real terms I think we are in good shape - we do have some debt but it's not significant. We will have to trade and we will have to have shareholder contribution for us to compete in this division."

Based on that Latibeaudiere is going to have to have his expectations managed carefully as much as the swans budget is. Especially when Ryan Manning is also up for a contract renewal. The swans are expected to sit down with Joel next week pending final tests on his injury to explore a new contract. However, with the club open about the finances at their disposal he may well be disappointed in the contract on offer. Burnley were rumoured to be interested in his services in the summer but nothing came of it, and it’s very clear boss Russell Martin likes the players adaptability on the pitch, especially being able to play in a number of positions. Something the club are beginning to expect from a number of their players, including Manning.

Looking at the squad currently playing at the swansea.com stadium Winter is confident of making some in roads this season. "Can we compete in this league ? I think we can. I think Russell's doing well with the team we have. We have been unfortunate with some of the results. We could be five or six points better off if we are being sensible about it. If we have that we are looking in really good shape”

With this latest news on Joel Latibeaudiere and indeed Ryan Manning we can expect some progress on both players contracts during the month of October.

Photographs licensed from Reuters

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