Swansea City fresh from their thumping victory over Cardiff go in to their biggest test of the season at the Swansea.Com stadium tomorrow night. A game which has been selected for the Sky Sports main event football match for Wednesday. Both sides have a few selection issues after winning derby games over the weekend,
Swansea City have only had two full days to recover after beating Cardiff 3-0. WBA on the other hand have had four full days to prepare for this game. They beat Birmingham City on Friday evening.
Ethan Laird improving game by game
Ethan Laird reflecting on the weekends derby win but also on WBA he said "I loved it. It was a crazy atmosphere, the fans were really on our side and they stayed with us and carried us the whole way and I loved the experience,” said the Manchester United loanee, who was regularly seen geeing up the home crowd during the game. I knew that we needed the energy for this game, especially because of how big it was for the whole of Wales, so I tried my best to keep them going and it helped.
"As a team we’re always pushing for more and more and I feel like we should all believe that it is possible because of the gaffer we have. He’s implemented a system that we all believe in and it’s only going to get better. We are buzzing with the result, but I know we can get even better. We always hope for better and hopefully this will kickstart us and we’ll just keep going and going and going.”
Alex Mowatt still in recovery from the derby game against Birmingham City
26-year-old Alex Mowatt was forced to withdraw from the West Midlands derby against Birmingham City on the hour mark last Friday after sustaining another knock to his toe, a major blow for Ismael’s men despite being able to grab a 75th-minute winner through Karlan Grant.He has started each one of the Baggies’ 12 league games so far this season. Grady Diangana, who is currently recovering from a hamstring problem won’t be selected. WBA assess Alex Mowatt on Wednesday morning before the game at Swansea, if he’s unavailable Jayson Molumby could take his place.
Valerie Ismael has confirmed, "We’re going to keep a close eye on things and how he is before we make a decision on Alex. Grady Diangana won’t be available for the game because he only had his first session with the group on Tuesday. It’s too close for him to be able to play. If everything goes correctly then hopefully him being available for Saturday won’t be a problem”
Conor Townsend, who is playing a more utility role for WBA this year campaign is expecting his side to win, "We want to get a run going now. We got a good win against Birmingham the other night and we’ve got a chance at Swansea to secure consecutive victories. We want to be a team which is at the top of the league and you need to put back-to-back wins together and go on big runs to do that. The games come thick and fast and we have a chance to win three games in a week. Swansea had a good win in a derby of their own last weekend so we know they’ll be full of life. It’ll be tough but we’ve got a game plan and hopefully we’ll be able to execute it.”
Conor Townsend is confident his team can win at Swansea
EFL Analysis Swansea City v WBA
EFL analysis using the latest up to date data make the baggies firm favourites for this game. "A 3-0 win over Cardiff City last weekend has seen Swansea climb up to 17th in the league. With a good run of form and two wins in the last four matches, Russell Martin’s men are hoping to continue this ascent in the league and aim for higher and better things. The hosting of West Brom will certainly be a tricky fixture given that the Baggies are one of the favourites to gain a Premier League promotion. Though dazzling with confidence, the Swans with the home support will love to do something shocking. West Brom came back strongly after their defeat against Stoke City few weeks back, beating Birmingham City at home 1-0. Thus, they have been clung on to the second position with 25 points in the table. A win this Wednesday can take them to the top of the table and Valerien Ismael and the team would definitely aim that against Swansea knowing it’s very much achievable”
Latest team news and managers thoughts in our pre match round up at lunch time tomorrow