Phil SumblerThe Swans head to Ewood Park this evening looking to secure a third successive league win and move themselves into second place in the Championship table ahead of the weekend.
This game is one of our official games in hand as it was a match that fell victim to the weather back in January when it was called off due to a waterlogged pitch at Ewood Park.
It has been, shall we say, an eventful week as a Swansea fan with two games that looked certain to be heading towards a draw turned dramatically to create wins for the Swans thanks to the awarding of two late penalties against both Stoke and Middlesbrough.
Both penalties have attracted much discussion from their award both in the media and in the camps of both Watford and Brentford particularly amongst the fanbases but the harsh reality for these sides is that we are very much in the promotion mix and currently in the driving seat to be joining what looks certain to be Norwich in the Premier League next season.
A win tonight will all of a sudden put a five point gap between us and Brentford in 4th place and also lift us two points ahead of Watford with a game in hand. That would make the league table look very pleasant indeed tomorrow morning.
What we do know is that we do need some level of a performance from the team. Incredibly we have won four of the last six games without ever hitting what feels like form although the first half against Bristol City could be classed as just that but ultimately did not get us the rewards that we wanted.
Team News: Blackburn are definitely without both Adam Armstrong and Jarrad Branthwaite as confirmed by Tony Mowbray yesterday. Armstrong has netted 20 times this season for Rovers but Mowbray confirmed he won’t be risked as he comes back from injury. They will also be without longer term injury absentees Daniel Ayala and Jacob Davenport whilst Lewis Holtby will also be out.
For the Swans, Ryan Bennett featured on the bench against Middlesbrough on Saturday and is expected to return to the starting line up again tonight.
Manager Views:
Tony Mowbray – “Swansea and Brentford are two of the teams that this club should, not follow or copy, but they have a blueprint, look at how they have done it.
Coaches now are more thoughtful, the game is more positional, and I think Steve Cooper fits into that after his experiences with England, because Gareth (Southgate) is bringing that to the national team,” he said.
“I think you have to be more thoughtful, more clever if you’re to hit the heights as a football coach, and all I’m trying to do is to make sure we stay ahead of the curve, or with the curve, as football teams develop identity and play positional football.
Steve Cooper – “Blackburn away is a tough game. It’s one of the rearranged games from the waterlogged pitch a month or so ago.
“I think they’re a really good football team. On their day they can be really hard to play against.
“We’ve got to prepare properly, recognise that they are a team that, certainly offensively can have a real impact on games.”
The game at Ewood Park kicks off at 6pm.
