Swansea City return to EFL Championship action this afternoon against Hull City (KO 3pm). This comes after a six-week hiatus due to international holidays since mid-September. This week, head coach Michael stated that ‘issues’ behind the scenes have affected not only his team selections but have also hampered his genuine efforts to stabilize the squad.
The Swans are without Nathan Wood, who is unlikely to return until at least February. Joe Allen (late December, if not January) Mykola Kukharevych (December 31) Azeem Abdulai (similar) Josh Ginnelly (season-ending injury) and Josh Key (expected to return in two weeks) When you consider that all of those players would be in or near the starting lineup, that’s not a good injury list.
Other than that the Swans have a number of first team options, the defence is holding its own with a variety of selections available. The Jo front situation is looking likely to include Jerry Yates and Jamal Lowe are options but the Swans are without suspended Liam Cullen today. The midfield would look more attacking if Charlie Patino starts today, and we expect that to be the case. In the unlikely event of time travel being invented this week, attacking forward Kristian Fletcher won’t be included. He has chosen to return to the USA for Thanksgiving, that seemed a rather odd decision based on how close he has been to a first team call up. He must have been told he wouldn’t be an option for todays game. Especially with Cullen out.
Hull manager Liam Rosenior praised his team’s efforts this season while also reviewing the Swans’ dangerman today. They have a strong football team. Their recent performance has been outstanding. They were unfortunate to lose at Ipswich, which we all know is a difficult place to visit. Michael has had his time to imprint what he wants a little bit more; it takes managers time, and they have some outstanding technical players.
“I worked with Jamie Paterson, I think Matt Grimes is one of the best midfielders in the league, (Jamal) Lowe is a threat on any day, Jerry Yates, who they signed from Blackpool, gives them a lot of legs and energy in behind, they’ve got a lot of good players like every team in the Championship, but we’ll go to Swansea and play exactly how we always do.”
“Every team has its own set of advantages and disadvantages. You must deal with what is in front of you, which is the Championship. We won at Leicester and lost at Ipswich 3-0 – that’s how the Championship works. We have to be consistent in what we do, and if we do that – you can’t take games in isolation, it’s about a block of 46 games – for me, we could win at Swansea, lose at Swansea, beat Rotherham on Tuesday, lose to Rotherham, and it’s the same for every team in this league. We must concentrate on our strengths.”
Of course, Liam is correct, and people should remember that the Humberside club put in a dismal performance last season, losing 3-0 at the Swansea.Com Stadium. A lot has changed since then, including Rosenior’s appointment. “I had to build this team from the ground up, fighting against relegation.” It’s almost as if we’ve entered the third phase. The first phase was our defensive solidity, being organized and difficult to beat, the second phase was dominance in terms of build and possession, and the third phase is now completing that dominance. It is a process that takes time.”
Hull are currently eighth in the table, while the Swans are seventeenth. However, the distance between them is small. The Championship begins to settle at this point in the season, and a loss for the Swans today would move them further away from closing the gap. Hull will be determined to win in a game that will be difficult to predict.
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