Tonight is the night. Stoke City welcome Swansea City to the Bet365 stadium in Staffordshire ( kick off 8.15pm) Swansea City have lost their last two games conceding seven goals, meanwhile Stoke haven't lost at home in the Championship for nine games. The Potters have an eye on the play offs, the Swans still have hopes of the automatic spots.
Steve Cooper remains positive as he takes his side in to the game with everything on his mind, but only things he can control. Worthy words. "This will be a tough one because Stoke have a really strong squad of players, that have experience and talent,” he said. They have players who have cost a lot of money - that’s for a reason — and you know that playing Stoke will be a strong test, regardless of what form they are in. We are treating it that way, but we really want to go there in the right frame of mind; confident and committed in how we play and what we can do on the night. There is so much that can still happen, as we know from last season, so topics about whether we have had a good season or not are for the end of the season really. Now it’s about delivering when it counts, which is on game days, and we have to make sure we are ready to go, because those are the things we are in control of.”
Michael O'Neill on the the other hand preferred to deflect his teams injuries by talking about signing Jamal Lowe. O’Neill said: "We met Jamal and tried to sign him but he was already well down the road with Swansea and unfortunately that’s where he decided to go. It’s been a good move for him, let’s be honest. He’s done very well. That’s the market we’re in. He maybe looked at it and saw Stoke at the wrong end of the table and saw Swansea as a club who were in the play-offs. All of that is what we’re trying to build so it becomes more attractive to come to Stoke. The important thing is that you come to Stoke for the benefit of your career, that you’re well looked after and that’s what we have to sell to players.”
Stoke Injuries ''Of course it is. It’s not easy. The players we have out at the minute — Clucas, McClean, Fox — are three examples of players we’d expect to play a lot of games for us. Nathan Collins comes into that category as well. We’ve had that little bit of a challenge this season of players being out who would play a lot of games for us. When the window closed we essentially had a full bill of health, which was nice, but within a week to 10 days injuries started occurring again. That’s the nature of it I think, it’s something all clubs are dealing with. It’s made it more difficult to shuffle the pack, it’s made it difficult in games when we’ve had to make substitutions are not being as strong, having to make substitutions as well. They’re all factors in winning games'. "We started with two wins, now we’ve had two defeats, we take a couple of steps forward and we take a couple of steps back. That’s probably where we are at this minute in time but that doesn’t mean we don’t still have a lot to play for this season.”
Swansea factors 19 goals between them this season, Andre Ayew and Jamal Lowe have given Swansea a good chance at promotion after a three-year absence from the Premier League. But the goals have dried up since the turn of the year with Ayew registering only his second strike in 10 games in the defeat to Bristol City, while Lowe has not got on the scoresheet in his last nine appearances. Injuries have also come at the wrong time for Cooper with the likes of Jordan Morris, Liam Cullen and veteran Wayne Routledge all sidelined but the Swans still have enough quality in their side to get the ammunition to the goalscoring duo.
We recently wrote that the expectation on the shoulders of the team seems to affecting judgement on the pitch, hopefully that has been addressed and tonight we see a Swansea side full of energy and with a real desire to win.
Who Scored Stats Grimes will have a battle on his hands to win this midfield battle, as he faces his opposite number and skipper in the experienced John Obi Mikel. The Nigerian has been a key man in the middle of the park following his arrival last summer, after departing Turkish Super Lig side Trabzonspor. The 33-year-old is making more tackles per 90 minutes than any other Stoke player this season, and his defensive work will be crucial in if they are to deny Grimes the opportunity to create chances for his Swansea team-mates. Given the time and space to pick his pass, Grimes is more than capable of continuing his strong recent form and making it a tough night for Stoke, as Swansea look to return to winning ways at the Potters' expense.
More of this tonight please
New partners Robson-Kanu, founder of The Turmeric Co, said: "This is such an exciting partnership for The Turmeric Co, as it signifies how far we have come in such a short space of time. From launching in 2018, to now being recognised as a key nutritional supplier for such a large club is a privilege, but also a reflection on the quality and effectiveness of our unique turmeric based shots. We are now looking forward to everyone connected to Swansea City learning more about the powerful benefits our health-focused shots offer, and we are delighted that the first team, academy teams and staff will be using our shots on a daily basis to support their well-being, while educating their fantastic community and fanbase on the importance of natural nutrition, encouraging them to also make positive decisions to lead a healthy lifestyle. We are proud to be playing our part in this journey of so many people’s lives.”
Rebecca Edwards-Symmons, head of commercial at Swansea City added: "The Turmeric Co will aid our players’ holistic health and be part of their daily nutrition, and we look forward to working with The Turmeric Co for the long-term.”
New partners arriving all the time at Swansea City
You can watch the swans tonight on Sky Sports.