It was fairly obvious from the line up last weekend that Swansea City would be placed in a less than fortuitous position come this morning and decisions on injured players. And now Russell Martin has made the call.
Jay Fulton and Liam Walsh haven’t travelled with the squad today and Joe Allen is serving game two of his three match suspension. The latter maybe now wishing he had controlled himself far better than he did when he was sent off against Preston. That said it is what it is this morning and the Swans will go all out tomorrow to beat Hull City to keep their very remote play off chances alive.It all depends on other results of the last game of the season at home to West Bromwich Albion is to become a nail biter.
The Swans managed Norwich City exceptionally well last week winning at a canter 3-0. This time around we can expect a much better home side response and a far harder game against the Tigers. Joel Piroe will start and Jamie Paterson and Ollie Cooper will be vying for starts as well. Captain Matt Grimes will also feature and Olivier Ntcham is fit. The much improved Joel Latibeaudiere and Ryan Manning will also start with a defence comprising of Nathan Wood and Ben Cabango. Andy Fisher will retain his place in goal.
A few indicators suggest a more prominent role for Morgan Whittaker, however we believe he will start on the bench with Harry Darling. Hull mama her Liam Rosenior is a well respected coach and he confirms Alfie Jones will be up for selection tomorrow afternoon. The Hull boss is full of admiration for Russell Martin and what he has achieved at Swansea, as are most people way from the club itself. And rightly so. "It would be brilliant if we had the opportunity Swansea have. At one point I’m frustrated we’re not closer to the play-offs, but I’m also delighted because when I joined we were a point outside the relegation zone and had the worst defensive record in all four leagues. You have to build it correctly and all of a sudden it can look great, and then it falls apart. I’m trying to build things properly over a long period of time. The first build block is now set in stone”
Rosenior will put out a side that can attack Swansea and win the game, and Martin has to be wary of that. This morning he was somewhat upbeat in his thoughts despite the squad losses. "Jay has been battling a tight calf for a few weeks and it has caught up with him a little bit, and there is no point in risking him and potentially making it much worse ahead of the summer. He will hopefully be back for next week against West Brom but we will have to wait and assess that. And on the new investment news this morning ( we will have some extra information on this later) Martin was very cautious. "I don't think this club at this moment in time will ever be able to go out and splash millions of pounds on players and all of sudden pay ridiculous wages compared to what everyone else is getting paid. The club's worked so hard to develop a structure that is sustainable and doesn't put the club in financial jeopardy”
A large Swansea support will travel to Humberside tomorrow to support their team with two games to go in the 2023/24 season, where has the time gone ?
Hull City v Swansea City kicks off at 3pm tomorrow afternoon.