Swansea City are in search of a left back after Tom Williams was told that he must go under the knife for a hernia operation. With Williams likely to be sidelined for up to six weeks it presents a headache for manager Kenny Jackett who was just beginning to enjoy the best out of the signing he made from Gillingham earlier this year.
Williams has put in a string of decent performances over the last few weeks and was drawing the plaudits after a difficult start to his Swansea career.
Kenny Jackett admitted: “It’s a big blow for us. I’ve got Kevin Austin who can play at left-back and I wouldn’t hesitate to put Alan Tate there either, but it’s a possibility that we’ll look for some loan cover.” Swansea had hoped Williams could be spared surgery, but physio Richie Evans conceded: “With so much of the season to go, there’s no chance we could nurse him all the way through.”
Austin was set to stand in at Newport this afternoon in the FA Cup and is likely to retain that position for next weeks league tie at Port Vale unless the Swans can use the loan market to their benefit and bring in reinforcements.
With Williams joining the likes of Pratley, Way and Tudur Jones on the sidelines at present it is stretching the Swans squad to the limit just as they had pushed themselves back into contention in the upper reaches of League One.
This article first appeared on JACKARMY.net.