Planet Swans looks ahead at tommorow's fixture at Carrow Road

Swansea City's unbeaten home form may have come to an abrupt end on Tuesday evening but Roberto Martinez's side will take to the skies to ensure that the squad are given every chance to steel all three points from Norwich City, in the first meeting between the Swans and Canaries in 10 years.
Martinez will be hoping to go away from the East Of England with more than a point after the disappointing 2-2 draw with Ipswich last month. Under no illusions about the task at hand many pundits and former players have been predicting another stern test for a Swansea side growing in stature.

Case in point former Norwich City striker and the clubs chief scout Kevin Reeves was predicting such an examination at Carrow Road a fact that the Spaniard is all to aware of as he pointed out in the SWEP, “It's another Premier League environment we're going into,and the challenge once more is to see if we can be ourselves. Norwich have great strength in depth, so this will be a real test for us." Despite the indifferent start to the season Glenn Roeder's side will be hard to break down but against a Swansea City side adapting admirably in the top half of the championship, Martinez and his squad have nothing to fear.
However the Swans must not discount the danger posed by the former premier league side. After brushing aside league leaders Wolverhampton Wanders 5-2 in a thrilling encounter, Norwich could still yet confound their inconsistent form and dominate precedings come Saturday afternoon.

Not that Norwich are unaware of the challenges posed by the Liberty Stadium outfit as Canaries defender Adam Drury told the clubs official site “ What I've seen and heard about them, they're a good footballing side.They like to play with the ball on the floor and knock it about. They've come up to the league and they've done really well so far.” but the Cottenham born player does admit that the Norfolk side are not on top of their game but is firmly out to stop the Swans "I think at the minute all the games seem to be tough matches for us because we're not on top of our game. You often see with clubs who have moved up that their confidence is high and they go on from there, so it's going to be up to us to stop that because we need to get ourselves back up the table. We're not in an ideal place, we don't want to be where we are in the league but it's not misleading because we haven't won enough games to be any higher. It's something we need to put right and we are working hard to try and do that.”

Roader has been dealt a massive injury blow ahead of the fixture with Serbian defender Dejan Stefanovic potentially out for the rest of the the season after sustaining ruptured cruciate ligaments to his knee. The former Newcastle Boss could hardly contain his disappointment as he spoke about the 34 year old's injury as he spoke to The Norwich Evening News he said ,“Sadly the news surrounding Dejan is more serious than we first thought. This is clearly a long-term injury and a massive blow to the club and Dejan personally.” Antonie Sibierski is out of the game with a knee injury whilst Darel Russell is out through suspension.
Swansea do have injury concerns with midfielder Leon Britton in a race to be declared fit after a re-occurrence of a back injury. Defender Marcos Painter is definitely sidelined with cruciate ligament damage to his knee whilst Andrea Orlandi and Thomas Butler are out as is shot-stopper Dorus De Vries.

Players to watch:

Jordi Gomez: Since his arrival from Espanyol in the summer transfer window the Barcelona born midfielder has adapted to the British game. His goal scoring record mixed with his midfield partnership with Dutch ace Ferrie Bodde has given the Spainard the opportunity to shine.Gomez's creative flair and skill could prove vital against a resolute Norwich side.

Leroy Lita: On loan from championship rivals Reading the striker with an eye for goals was an astute signing for the Canaries. Scoring 5 goals in 7 games Lita will be a threat to Swansea come kick off.


Man In The Middle/Men On The Lines:

Referee:Grant Hegley
Assistant Officials:D S Margetts and A E Rayner
Fourth Official M George

Planet Swans Prediction: Norwich City 1-1 Swansea City

Photo: Action Images

Swansea City Polls