Phil SumblerSwansea City head to Sheffield United on Saturday looking to build on the good win over Bristol City on Sunday and put a dent in the promotion hopes of their hosts.
The Blades are keen on a return to the Premier League having dropped out last season after two years in the top flight and whilst they sit slightly outside the play off positions at the moment they are just two points away from 6th placed Middlesbrough and know that a win at Bramall Lane could see them in the top six come the end of Saturday.
That said, the tightness of the division sees them also only four points ahead of the 14th placed Millwall which tells you much about the need for sides to win with so much able to change very quickly even at this advanced stage of the season.
One man who will be hoping to help plot that win for the Blades is Conor Hourihane who spent the second half of last season on loan at Swansea City. It is, of course, a very different Swansea City to the one that we see now but Hourihane revealed that he was still in touch with some of the Swans team despite his change of clubs.
“I was speaking to one or two of the lads and they try to play some good football with their new manager,” he told Express and Star.
“They play out from the back and pass the ball, and that’s how Swansea have always done it.
“They’ll be trying to take the ball in certain areas and probably not bank up as much as Hull did, but everybody brings their own strengths and different challenges.
“Hopefully. We’ll do our homework on them. We’ve got our own strengths and we’ll try to pinpoint their weaknesses.
“Whatever happens, we’ll be ready for it.”
The promotion hopes of the Blades have taken a slight dent in the past week with goalless draws against firstly Huddersfield and then at home to Hull on Tuesday night but with 10 of their last 16 games scheduled at Bramall Lane they will be confident of at least a play off space and will be targeting this fixture as three points towards that.
Kick off on Saturday is 3pm.
