It most definitely is the final ninety minutes or so of action for Swansea City this season as they take on West Bromwich Albion at the Swansea.Com stadium. Amidst a bizarre post by new club Chairman Andy Coleman which was about as well timed as an Aiden Newhouse header the final knockings are with us.
West Bromwich Albion will have other things on their mind later today though. They can still get in to the top six and earn themselves a play off spot with a win. A draw is of no use to them at all, and they really have to rely on a number of results around them to go in their favour. The league table tells its own tale and it’s an outside shot for the Baggies.
Here are todays final Championship games.
What we will see is a visiting side battling Swansea who have to go all out to score and see what happens elsewhere. This is an exciting proposition indeed. The key games are being covered LIVE by Sky Sports so you can watch the action as it happens, that is if you haven’t secured a ticket for this game which is a sell out. Had the Swans won last week at Hull City they would be two points better off and also in with an outside shout of a play off. However, the ifs, buts and maybe’s we are sure will be talked about all summer. Yes, an extra win would have been a real boost for todays game, but it wasn’t to be. The best the Swans can do is go for the win. If West Brom, Blackburn Rovers and Sunderland all lose and the Swans win they will finish in a tied but agonising seventh place on goal difference.
The Swans have won the last three meetings with West Brom and will do the double again on them as they did last season if they win. The game before that was a draw in 2020. Swansea have scored seven goals in their last three meetings with the Baggies, the most recent a thrilling 3-2 win at the Hawthorns in October.
Baggies Turkish midfielder, Okay Yokuslu ( below ) is determined to fight to the bitter end for the win. "This is a final for us, but we are excited for it. Of course, we know exactly what we have to do. We need to give our all as team. Every game has been important, especially the last couple of weeks, we had opportunities to get more points but didn’t take them. That’s football sometimes, you don’t always get what you want but when you think back on the season, after a tough start I think we should be proud of how we have fought back and pushed for the Play-Off places”
On the game ahead he said. "They have a different style of play, they’ve had a good run of results and it’s the final game of the season, so every team wants to finish with a victory. But we know exactly what we need to do. We are fighting for the Play-Offs and we need those three points more, so we need to show that on the pitch by playing with belief and giving everything that we can with one last push.”
Ex Baggies man, Andy Johnson can’t wait for the game. "It’s fair to say West Bromwich Albion and final day drama seem to go hand-in-hand. We never do things the easy way. I’m desperate for some drama and some jubilant scenes down at Swansea. We know it’ll be tough. They’re in unbelievable form and they pass the ball around for fun. They’re one of the best footballing teams in the division, that’s for sure, and I think our lads will have to be very patient. When we have the ball, we have to be clever with it and be ruthless at the top end of the pitch”
Russell Martin comes up against Baggies boss Carlos Corberán with his name very much in the spot light today. Links to him and Leicester City have increased over recent days. However he has his sights only on this game. "We are in the same situation as we were at Hull last weekend,” said Martin. "Walshy ( Liam Walsh ) and Jay ( Fulton ) miss out, they will now go away and get ready for pre-season when they will be totally fine and ready. We know we can finish in the top ten, and to do that we need a win, so that will be the aim.” The latest links to Martin leaving in the summer won’t go away until he signs a new contract. Speculation is all it is, and that’s how we see it. Apparently he is looking at houses in Leicestershire and has already having been agreed join the Foxes. We were even given the estate agents name and one of the two villages he has been in over the past two weeks. ( insert smiley here )
Pinch of salt ? At this time it has to be.
Many Swans fans will hope so too, despite the rather odd press release from the club’s Chairman last night ( it was made official on the website an hour or so after Andy Coleman’s post on Twitter ) a new contract for Martin has to be the focus. The Swans have done well both financially and as a brand from their last three Championship appointments so Russell Martin won’t be leaving under contract unless a considerable compensation clause is met, However, that’s all for the future, for now we look forward to the last game of the season against West Bromwich Albion which kicks off at 3pm this afternoon.