Michael Obafemi returns to the Swansea City squad tomorrow after his disciplinary issues surrounding his time keeping and attitude and behaviour. Ryan Bennett is suspended leaving a pathway back in to the first team for Ben Cabango against a Blackpool side who are much improved.
A fully fit Swansea City bar the Bennett suspension go in to tomorrow’s game in a tough encounter against Blackpool. Keshi Anderson has been a key performer for the Seasiders and is relishing the visit to west Wales. "I've really enjoyed my time out on the pitch lately and feel I'm starting to contribute more to the goals and assists," he said. "The thing that matters is the team winning, and I'm pleased that I've been able to help the side do that in recent victories. I think we're starting to show that we're a strong side in this division after a tough start to the season. I think we're capable of coming up against any side in this league and putting in strong performances, and we've shown that in recent weeks. We've had all good international break of rest and recuperation, and we're now looking to push on over the coming weeks and months”
Ben Cabango is back in with a chance of selection tomorrow
Blackpool also now have Chris Maxwell and Shayne Lavery in contention after injury, however manager Neil Critchley is cautious as to their inclusion against the swans. It seems though Blackpool are brimming with confidence this week at their Squires Gate training ground, and the swans should not be taking this side for granted at any level. It has surprised us here at Swansea Independent that St Asaph born Maxwell isn’t being selected for Wales as he featured in the build up to Euro 2016. He is yet to earn a first team cap, although he has featured at numerous levels for his country.
Chris Maxwell is back in contention, but tomorrow maybe too early
Commenting on Michael Obafemi and his recent indiscipline, Martin stated earlier today " It’s not just time keeping, It’s a general thing, the guys have behaved so well, and are so professional, so if something is not quite in line with that it really stands out. Michael was frustrated with himself, he has trained really, hard and has had no time keeping issues, so he’s in the squad " Hopefully then we will see a much improved Michael Obafemi if he gets on to the pitch tomorrow.
The last game the swans played was a lacklustre performance against Bournemouth " We are learning all the time about us, ourselves, the group said Martin. This process doesn’t change, win lose or draw. We analyse it,we learn from it, and then we make sure we try to improve. There are positives you take from every game, and of course there are things you need to learn from. The way we play takes great courage” These principles will challenge some readers, learning from experience and developmental learning in a way that is analysed emotionally as well as cognitively will be something some find hard to grasp. But that’s the way Martin wants his players to learn and grow, as he stated a couple of weeks ago, "We don’t want to leap from one emotional feeling one week to another the next” That goes for some supporters too, always commenting on the latest thing they see and rarely seeing the bigger picture.
Positives from the Bournemouth defeat have been analysed as well as the negatives
Referring to Jamie Paterson. Martin believes he has never been in a better place. "What he has felt since he has been here has been a real connection, he is in the form of his life” Based on that we will see Paterson starting tomorrow for sure, many would be disappointed if he didn’t. Smiling when talking about Paterson’s eligibility Martin said " He’s eligible for Scotland, we know that, if he becomes eligible and on the back of that for Wales we will have to see”
With the league table showing the swans in twelfth place and only three points off sixth placed QPR the Championship is once again in squeeze mode as it takes shape this season. With three games in eight days Swansea City can make a dramatic impact on the league table.
Once again the stories of managerial changes were evident in the international break "I hope we’re here for a long time. We’ve signed a long-term contract,” said Martin. You never know what goes on in football, but we talk about wanting to be here all the time because of how good the people have been to us. We feel like we’ve been here for a long time already. I genuinely hope we can be here for a long time, or until the club decide we’re no longer wanted or whatever. We are really focused on what we are doing, and we are really enjoying what we are doing. We know we need to keep growing, we know we need to keep improving We have an objective to achieve something in the time that we're here. The fact that the players have been so willing to do what they’ve done so quickly and give us such a good base to work from is really exciting for us. This is a brilliant football club. If someone had said to me after two years of being a manager I would be here in charge of this football club, I would've bitten your hand off or thought you were mad to suggest it was possible”
Swansea City haven’t beaten Blackpool in the past seven meetings, the last time was a home win in 2005.Check,our our match day thread for the latest views and pre match build up here
"We’re here. We’re loving it, and we’re fully into the project here”
Swansea City v Blackpool kicks off at 3pm tomorrow and isn’t available to watch on any of the usual outlets unless you reside on what is called a dark market. The reason for this is it is set to be shown live by multiple broadcasters across Europe, Asia, North America and throughout the world, the match will therefore be unavailable to stream live internationally on Swans TV & Tangerine TV in countries covered by the EFL’s global television rights deal.