The Carling Cup roadshow rolls back into Swansea again today as the Swans prepare to take on Cardiff in the 3rd Round

It's the first meeting between the two sides in Swansea for 10 years, the first meeting in English competition for 9 and the first meeting of any kind for over 6 which adds just that little bit more spice to the occasion.

The Swans won that last meeting in Swansea courtesy of a very late winner from Matthew Bound.  There wwre 7757 at the Vetch that day but tonight almost 10,000 more than that will be present at the Liberty together with the watching cameras from Sky Sports.

It promises to be an atmosphere of which the Liberty probably hasn't seen before and players from both sides have been talking about the draw constantly since the two sides were paired together a little over three weeks ago.

And to add the extra bit of interest there has to be a winner on the evening - if the two sides cannot be seperated from 90 minutes, extra time and penalties will follow to add to the occasion.   A game that neither set of fans want to lose although I am sure both sets would happily trade a loss tonight for six points in the two league games if it were on offer.

1462 will make the trip from Cardiff on their organised bubble whilst Swans fans have been asked to show ID to obtain their own tickets for the match.   The police have promised pretty much a zero tolerance attitude for the game and both clubs are hoping that the talking point tomorrow morning is the action on the pitch rather than anything off it.

The question mark also remains over what teams the two managers will select.   The prize on offer for the victors is a place in the last 16 of the competition but both have a habit of selecting slightly "weakened" teams from those that they put out for league business.   I suspect that both will play a side that is stronger from what we saw in either Rounds 1 or 2 but not as full strength as either selected in their league matches three days ago.

For the Swans that means potential chances for Alan Tate, Albert Serran, Jordi Gomez and Guillem Bauza whilst Joe Allen and Andrea Orlandi would also be hoping for a start in the game.   It is extremely difficult to predict what Roberto may do for this one but let's have a stab anyway

Dorus

Rangel     Monk     Serran     Painter

Britton     Bodde     Gomez

Butler     Bauza     Orlandi

How close that is to the final selection I have no idea but I'd settle for getting at least half of them right (!)

The Bluebirds' defender Gabor Gyepes is cup-tied.

Hungarian Gyepes played for previous club Northampton in an earlier round in the competition.

For those that like seemingly value bets for the game Ferrie Bodde can be backed at 16/1 for first goal with Bet 365 whilst Jordi Gomez can be backed with the same bookie at 20/1,   When you consider both of their likeness for a set piece in and around the area and with both likely to feature it seems value to have a crack at them - even if it is each way.

And so this is it - derby day is here and the Swans and Cardiff finally get the chance to give themselves bragging rights for two months at least.

Let it be the occasion we all want.

Photo: Action Images

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