The Swans wake up this morning within striking distance of Middlesbrough and the Riverside stadium with some pretty decent weather about this afternoon. This fixture has never been a good one for the Swans, and we know personally two supporters from the north east who have been at this game over the years. One of those hardy souls has been on five occasions without seeing a Swansea win.
A loss today will get those hearts beating faster for sure, Plymouth won away last night at Rotherham, and although that sends the Millers down, Plymouth have put more pressure on those still to play this weekend. Huddersfield Town play Millwall, that’s a real six pointer. If Millwall win they will be seven points away from Huddersfield who are third bottom in the relegation places. If Huddersfield win they are one point behind Millwall. The other team fighting to avoid the drop are Birmingham City who are fourth bottom. They are away at Leicester City. That should sort itself out the way we all want.
The teams who could go above the Swans today are Stoke City, Blackburn Rovers and Queens Park Rangers. The R’s are home to Sheffield Wednesday, Stoke play West Bromwich Albion at home, as are Blackburn Rovers who host Southampton. After today’s fixture the Swans play Stoke City on Wednesday and Rotherham United next weekend, both are at home. Sufficient we think to allay any more relegation fears.
On today’s game Swansea have more concerns injury wise, Joe Allen is out as is Kyle Naughton, and of course as we know Josh Ginnelly and Sam Parker are long term injuries. Przemysław Płacheta has travelled but will be assessed this morning as will Bashir Humphreys but the latter seems to be drawing his time at Swansea to a close. Harrison Ashby IF recent news from the club is believed is struggling to shift the players in front of him. To be honest we should also be looking at him to enjoy the last month of the season before returning to Newcastle United. Loan players like the ones we have, and we include Charlie Patino and Sagoe Jr are also in the same boat. At this late stage the manager needs to be looking a bit broader to see what he has rather than playing these individuals.
Jamal Lowe we have talked about this week, the general feeling is the Swans should offer him a contract, but unfortunately the salary he will want won’t match what the Swans can offer as it stands. Carl Rushworth we expect to start, then there’s a pretty solid defensive line of Josh Tymon and Josh Key accompanied by two from Ben Cabango, Nathan Wood or Harry Darling. Ahead of them is certainly going to be Matt Grimes - and with Joe injured the likelihood is Luke Williams will play Jay Fulton.
What price Mykola Kukharevych today ? Just saying.
Jamie Paterson has to be included if the Swans are looking for the slightest hint of attacking flair, that is of course if Grimes and Fulton are involved. Ronald (above) has reported some fatigue this week, and that’s been noticeable over Easter, he looked tired. Could he need some time out ? Get him ready for Wednesday. That game is more important. When you look at the games Ronald has played this season (since signing) he has been involved in every Swans game. The Championship we are told is tough, and we believe that. Despite those games Ronald is yet to assist a goal and has bagged two in the win at Sunderland. The squad selection later will of course reveal as to the performance levels of the player after basic fitness checks this morning.
Nathan Wood, one of the few assets the Swans are left with after years of selling the clubs best players
The other options for Williams are play all three centre halves plus the two Josh’s. In a game like today that’s not too shabby an idea. It should be noted ‘we do know’ that this has been a strategy tested out this week at Fairwood. There’s plenty for the head coach to think about, especially with two defensive minded midfielders in Fulton and Grimes, that really does only leave three attacking spots to at least give the Swans some attacking spark.
The game is pay on the day now, and kicks off at 3pm.