Matt Williams
After last Tuesdayโs second half capitulation, Swansea are back on the road this weekend with a trip to Blackpool. The hosts have exceeded expectations since their promotion via the playoffs last year. They currently find themselves in 14th place, two places and four points better off than Swansea, although they have played an extra game.
Their January Transfer Window
First team signings
Blackpool kicked off their January window with the signing of Jake Beesley from Rochdale. The 25-year-old forward has made two sub appearances, totalling just eight minutes of game-time.
Their second and final senior signing came three days later when Owen Daleโs loan from Crewe was made permanent. The winger has played 11 Championship games this season, scoring once in their 3-2 win at Reading.
Blackpool also added Charlie Kirk on loan. The left winger arrived from League One Charlton. He has made two appearances, including one start against Cardiff, in which he set up the opening goal in their 1-1 draw at the Cardiff City Stadium.
First team outgoings
Blackpoolโs first senior departure was Demetri Mitchell, who joined Hibernian for an undisclosed fee. The 25-year-old left-sided player made 45 league appearances in his two years at Blackpool.
They also lost Daniel Gretarsson, after the 26-year-old defender joined ลlฤ sk Wrocลaw. Joe Nuttall became Blackpoolโs third and final senior departure, joining Scunthorpe United.
Their captain
Blackpool will be without their club captain once again this weekend, with goalkeeper Chris Maxwell continuing his recovery from injury.
The 31-year-old keeper was born in St Asaph in North Wales. He started his career at Wrexham, where he made 76 league appearances over a four year spell in the first team. He also enjoyed a short spell on loan at Connahโs Quay Nomads.
In 2012, Maxwell left Wales to join Fleetwood Town who had just been promoted to League Two as champions. In their previous season, Jamie Vardy scored 31 National League goals in his final season at Fleetwood. Maxwell struggled for game-time and was loaned back to Wrexham in January 2013, where he made 17 appearances. Wrexham reached the play-off final with Maxwell in goal but lost to fellow Welsh side Newport County.
He went on to join Cambridge United on loan in 2013 but was recalled in January. From then, he became the regular starting keeper for Fleetwood, until his departure in 2016.
Maxwell joined Championship side Preston North End, starting in 38 games in his debut season. He made a further 38 league appearances but was replaced by Declan Rudd as the first-choice keeper. He was loaned to Charlton, however he failed to make a single appearance for the London club.
The failed loan spell was followed by a more successful spell at Hibernian in 2019. He played 12 Scottish Premiership games before joining Blackpool midway through the 2019-20 campaign. He has since become the first-choice in goal for The Tangerines but is currently out with a recurring injury.
After starting each of Blackpoolโs first 11 games, Maxwell suffered a ruptured thigh muscle. This saw him miss nine games. He returned for two defeats against Luton and Derby in December before aggravating his thigh injury. He has been out of action ever since. In his absence,
Maxwell has made 33 total appearances at youth level for Wales but is yet to make his senior debut. He has, however, been called up on several occasions.
Their top scorer
Shayne Lavery eight league goals are enough to make him Blackpoolโs top scorer this season. The 23-year-old Northern Ireland international has scored 10 in all competitions in what is his debut season at Blackpool.
Lavery first arrived in England in 2015, joining Premier League side Everton after a successful trial. He had previously played youth football for Oxford Sunnyside, Portadown and Glenavon. Despite being an unused substitute in a Europa League game, Lavery never made a senior appearance for The Toffees.
Following a loan spell at Scottish Championship side Falkirk in 2019, Lavery departed Everton on a free transfer.
He returned to his native Northern Ireland where he quickly found prolific form up-front for Linfield. He scored 10 in 25 games in his debut season, before topping the goalscoring charts in his second campaign, bagging 23 in 31. He also scored seven in four cup games. While at Linfield, Lavery won two League titles and one Irish Cup.
He left Linfield on a free transfer in the summer, joining Blackpool on 1st July. He did not have to wait long to score his first goal for the club, grabbing a last-minute equaliser at Bristol City on his debut. He scored five in his first 11 games before sustaining an injury which saw him miss six league games. He returned in November to face Swansea, coming on for the final 20 minutes. Since then, he has scored three in 15 games.
Their manager
43-year-old Neil Critchley may not boast a long playing career, but his coaching credentials made him an exciting appointment for Blackpool in 2020.
He began his playing career at Crewe in 1999 but made just one appearance for the club. He joined Leigh RMI, an amateur club in Lancashire, but retired soon after.
He turned his attention to coaching as a teenager, becoming a coach at Crewe shortly after retiring. He went on to become the clubโs Academy Director. His successes attracted the attention of Liverpool who appointed him as their Under-18s manager in 2013.
Critchley coached the Under-18s for four years before becoming the Under-23s manager in 2017. He remained in charge of the youth side for three years, working with the likes of Trent Alexander-Arnold and Rhian Brewster.
In 2019, he served as the stand-in manager for Liverpool while Jurgen Klopp and most of the senior squad were in Qatar for the FIFA Club World Cup. Critchley was forced to field an inexperienced team in their EFL Cup quarter-final clash with Aston Villa, which saw them lose 5-0. He managed one more game for the senior side in a 1-0 win over Shrewsbury Town in the FA Cup.
On 2nd March 2020, he was appointed as Blackpool manager, signing a three-and-a-half-year deal. He managed just two games that season as Covid ended the season prematurely. They drew 0-0 at Fleetwood Town before a 2-1 home loss to Tranmere Rovers.
His first full season was far more successful. After leading Blackpool to a third-place finish with 80 points, they knocked out Oxford United in the semi-finals. After a horror start to the play-off final with Turtonโs own goal, a double from Kenneth Dougall secured Blackpoolโs return to the second tier.
Blackpool have exceeded expectations so far this season, finding themselves in 14th place. They are nine points off the playoffs and 24 above the relegation zone.
Previous Meeting
The two sides last met in November at the Swansea.com Stadium, with Russell Martinโs men in good form at home. They had previously won four home games in row but faced a tough test against a Blackpool side who boasted a strong away record.
Swansea opened the scoring through Joel Piroe. The Dutchman collected the ball outside the area before unleashing an excellent strike into the top corner.
The hosts should have made it 2-0 when Ethan Laird was hacked down in the area, but once again the referee ignored his appeals. Blackpool went on to punish Swansea, equalising through a Keshi Anderson volley with under five minutes to go.
Final score โ Swansea City 1-1 Blackpool
Match Preview
The Swans will be looking to bounce back after Tuesdayโs disappointment. They performed well in the first half, reaching the interval against league-leaders Fulham with the score at 0-0, but Manningโs first-half red card saw Swansea fall apart in the second half. They conceded five, although Piroe did head home the clubโs first set-piece goal of the season.
Manning is suspended for the next four games, including the South Wales derby. However, The Swans have been handed several injury boosts. Nathanael Ogbeta has been out with an injury since his January deadline day arrival but looks set to be included in the squad this weekend.
Meanwhile, loanees Hannes Wolf and Cyrus Christie are both set to return. Wolf has missed the last two games after a positive covid test, while Christie was ineligible to face his parent club Fulham on Tuesday. Flynn Downes is also available after being withdrawn during the Fulham loss.
Blackpool come into this game on the back of two successive wins. They beat Stoke 1-0 away on Saturday; a week removed from their 4-1 hammering of Reading. Their only dropped points at home in 2022 came in a 2-1 loss to Bournemouth.
