Matt WilliamsAfter doing the double over West Brom on Monday, Swansea are back at home this weekend. They welcome a Coventry City side that has massively exceeded expectations this season, finding themselves just three points off the play-off places.
Their January Transfer Window
While Swansea endured a busy window, Coventry made just one signing. In what will be a reunion game, they brought in Jake Bidwell on a free transfer from Swansea. Bidwell moved to The Swans on a free transfer in 2019 and played 92 Championship games for the club. He joined fellow ex-Swan Viktor Gyokeres at Coventry after the former loanee joined in July.
Elsewhere, Coventry let Wesley Jobello depart the club, although he remains without a club. They also loaned out Julien Dacosta to Portimonense.
Their captain
Liam Kelly was named Coventry captain in January 2019 following the departure of Michael Doyle.
He started his senior career at Kilmarnock, joining from MK Dons’ youth academy in 2009. He played 100 league games for the Scottish side, scoring 15 goals. In 2011-12, they won the Scottish League Cup.
He returned to England in January 2013, moving to Bristol City. However, this was a short-lived spell. After suffering an injury in July 2013, he missed the majority of the 2013-14 season. He departed for Oldham Athletic in June 2014 after making 21 league appearances.
He spent two years at Oldham, scoring seven in 78 League One outings. He followed this with a brief spell at Leyton Orient, before joining Coventry City in 2017. When he first joined The Sky Blues, they were in League Two. However, they achieved promotion in his first season at the club, before winning a second promotion two years later, returning to the Championship after an eight-year absence.
He received his first and only Scotland cap in November 2012, coming on as a substitute in a friendly win over Luxembourg.
The 32-year-old has made 13 Championship appearances this season.
Their Top Scorer
After a disappointing loan spell at Swansea, Gyokeres has found form at Coventry. He arrived on a permanent deal from Brighton in the summer after spending the second half of last season at Coventry.
Gyokeres started his career in his native Sweden. His 20 goals in 56 games for Brommapojkarna earnt him a move to Brighton. However, he failed to make a single league appearance for The Seagulls, making just eight cup outings.
He was loaned to FC St. Pauli in the German second tier in 2019-20, scoring seven in 26. This attracted the attention of Swansea who brought him in for the 2020-21 season. However, after 11 games and 0 goals, Gyokeres was recalled and subsequently loaned to Coventry.
He scored just three in 19 Championship games for Coventry but impressed enough to earn a permanent move. He has already scored four times as many goals this season, with 12 from 32 appearances.
Gyokeres has also represented Sweden on four occasions, scoring once in a friendly against Iceland.
Previous Meeting
2nd November 2021
Swansea travelled to Coventry on the back of a 3-0 win over Peterborough. They faced a Coventry side who were unbeaten at home in the league.
It was Swansea who opened the scoring in the fifth minute when Jamie Paterson slotted home from 12 yards out. They doubled their advantage seven minutes later; Ethan Laird was hacked down in the area, but the ball fell to Joel Piroe whose deflected shot wrongfooted the keeper.
Coventry pulled one back before the half-hour mark when Kyle McFadzean headed home. Both sides came close to adding more but Swansea managed to hold on to their lead, taking all three points home to South Wales.
Final score – Coventry City 1-2 Swansea City
Match Preview
Last Monday’s result was a major boost to Swansea after a poor showing against Sheffield United. They beat an admittedly underperforming West Brom side 2-0 away from home thanks to goals from Joel Piroe and Cyrus Christie.
Olivier Ntcham made an immediate impact as a second-half substitute, running almost the length of the pitch before finding Piroe in the box. The Dutch forward made space for himself, slotting his strike beyond Sam Johnstone.
Christie, who has been excellent since his January arrival, gave Swansea even more reason to make his loan permanent after he doubled Swansea’s advantage late on.
Russell Martin confirmed on Thursday that Nathanael Ogbeta is Swansea’s only current injury concern. He arrived on Deadline Day in January but aggravated an existing injury shortly after arriving. Ogbeta returned to training this week so he should be available within the next few weeks.
Meanwhile, Coventry were handed an injury boost this week as Matty Godden and Jodi Jones returned to training. However, they remain without Josh Eccles and captain Liam Kelly.
Coventry drew 1-1 with Preston last weekend after back-to-back wins in their previous two games.
After the Coventry game, Swansea host Fulham on Tuesday before a visit to Blackpool next weekend.
