Saturdays Championship battle between Swansea City and Coventry City see’s two sides in similar form. Both have won three out of their last five games, Coventry losing once and the swans losing twice. Coventry visit SA1 in tenth place with a superior goals scored and goals conceded record this season, plus they are ten points ahead of their rivals.

The sky blues are on fifty one points with thirteen games to go and still have a very decent chance of making the play offs. They are three points shy of sixth place and with so many games to go manager Mark Robins will fancy his side to get to May in contention. The last game for the visitors against Preston ended up a 1-1 draw with fans running onto the pitch and two sendings off. Coventry defender Fankaty Dabo became the second player in the game to see red when he was adjudged to have brought down North End’s Emil Riis Jacobsen. Coventry equalised on ninety eight minutes in a hot tempered end to the game. That last second goal displayed the fight in Robin’s side.

Dominic Hyam scored on ninety three minutes to beat Barnsley 1-0 at the end of their last home game before that, two games in which they could have easily lost extra points had it not been for their determination. Victor Gyökeres who never really saw much value from his time at Swansea has found his goal scoring boots again, now on thirteen goals for the season. His only rival is Matt Godden on ten, after that the goals are shared out throughout the squad in ones, twos and threes. On Godden’s fitness Robins said on Tuesday “Matty Godden’s not too far away in terms of where he is, so when he gets the all-clear he’s going to be ready to go. I don’t know if he’ll be fit for Saturday is the honest answer. He feels really good in himself. He’s taking hits. We had the pads out and he’s been hit with the pads so he’s ready to go. It’s just when we can get the all-clear and it’s as safe as we possibly can be for him. There’s no point bringing him back early if that’s going to be detrimental to his health. We have got to make sure it’s right.”

Another ex swans player Jake Bidwell is being preferred on the left side of midfield, and although not always first choice he has enjoyed selection for the majority of the sky blues games. It’s a similar role for Bidwell to that he experienced at Swansea, he is encouraged to get forwards in a fluid formation but also expected to cover defensively as well. Robins prefers three at the back, and his defensive three do score goals.

Jake Clark- Salter and Ian Maatsen both on loan from Chelsea have come under scrutiny from Swansea, and we still expect further interest from Russell Martin in the summer. Both look unlikely to break in to the Chelsea first team and further loans could be available. It’s going to be tough for the swans to breach the sky blues defence on Saturday, they have a great understanding and Mark Robins see’s them as the cornerstone of his sides success this season. Let’s not forget though Swansea City defeated Coventry 2-1 away in early November with goals from Jamie Paterson and Joel Piroe In the first twelve minutes. Another noteworthy stat from the dim and distance past as well. It was thirteen games ago between these two sides in October 1981 that the sky blues last defeated Swansea City. Back in the old first division. Lets see where that stat pops up between today and Saturday.

Swansea City v Coventry City kicks off at 3pm on Saturday March 5th 2022 at the swansea.com stadium.

Artwork by Swansea Independent

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