Phil Sumbler
Wigan’s 1-0 home defeat against Stoke last night sees them travel to South Wales this weekend in the bottom three of the Championship after a run that has seen them lose five games on the bounce and seven of the last eight in the league.
After picking up sixteen points in their first ten games, the run of three in their last eight has been costly for Wigan and they now find themselves with just West Brom and Huddersfield below them and the World Cup break looming large on the horizon.
It could surely not be a better time for the Swans to face the Latics given the disappointments of the last two away games that has seen u keep pace with the play off chasers but one point from six would not have been what Russell Martin was looking for.
He will, of course, have to make do without his skipper Matt Grimes on Saturday for the very first time in the league after he picked up a 5th yellow card of the season on Tuesday night.
Grimes has missed very little Championship action since a defeat at Aston Villa in October 2018. He has featured every minute this season, last season and also in 2019-20 but was absent for one game in 2020-21 – meaning he has played every minute in 193 of the Swans last 194 league and play off games as well as 94 games on the bounce!
Martin has plenty of options available to him to cover the loss of the captain with Jamie Paterson pushing for a start and Ollie Cooper surely likely to come back into the starting line up after coming off the bench on Tuesday night at Preston.
The Championship remains a tough league to compete in and a win for the Swans on Saturday is certainly not a must but it’s key to get that result to keep us in touch with those at the top ahead of two more away games next week before we break for that World Cup in Qatar.
Russell Martin knows that is skipper will be a loss “He’s been outstanding. He’ll be a miss for us on Saturday. He’s an important player for us,” he told the official site.
“But we have a lot of talented players. We’ve got Jay Fulton, who has been incredible.
“I said to the players in the dressing room at Preston, what an example for the young players he is in terms of a reaction to disappointment from last season. I have nothing but admiration for Jay and what he’s doing this season for us in a few positions.
“We’ll be fine. We’ve got other people to come in. He’ll be a loss because Grimesy, for me, has taken his game to the next level this season, especially in this run of games.
“He dictates so much, he’s so calm and the players trust him so much.
“I’m disappointed for us and for Grimesy in particular because he doesn’t miss any games really. We have to win for him, and he’ll be ready to come back in straight after.”
The Swans kick off against Wigan at 3pm on Saturday 5th November.
