Phil Sumbler
It’s been almost four weeks since the Swans last kicked a ball in anger in the league but finally now with all our involvement in the World Cup over we return to Championship action this weekend when Norwich City arrive at the Swansea.com Stadium.
Of course Norwich are a club that the Swans boss knows well having played for them for almost nine years and making more than 300 appearances for the Canaries.
Those past loyalties though will count for nothing come Saturday afternoon with Martin’s Swans now just one point behind his former club and knowing that a home win will lift them back above Norwich and almost certainly into the Championship top six once again.
The winter World Cup was always likely to make for an odd season this time around and it seems strange to be talking about a return to action following that break. Martin’s side have of course been in Scotland for a few days taking in wins over both Hearts and Dundee United on the way but this will be a true test of our current ability with the Canaries remaining one of the favourites for yet another promotion to the Premier League.
Whilst the period before the break saw fixtures coming thick and fast we have a relatively slow return to action with just four games between now and the end of the month – away trips to Coventry and Reading follow before the Swans end 2022 with a home clash with Watford on 30th December. With the two hosts of our trips just behind us in the league and Watford currently in the top six it makes for a challenging December and Martin will know that a good run of results could make this a very good Christmas indeed for Swansea City.
The Swans four World Cup representatives – Ban Cabango, Joe Allen, Ollie Cooper and Olivier Ntcham are all now back in the fold following their countries early departures from the competition in Qatar and all four will find themselves under consideration for the weekend.
Martin himself is in no doubt that the squad is prepared for the return to action and that the week in Scotland has helped no end to that as he explained after the win over Dundee United “I think the week has given us a really nice platform to build off. I think we have utilised the break in the best possible way.
“This break has gone even better than we hoped it would in terms of the togetherness of the group on and off the pitch.”
Norwich went into the break with some pressure on manager Dean Smith and there is little doubt that he would have been glad of the four weeks off and insists that his side will be ready for the return to action
Smith told the Norwich official channels: “It’s been different having a break, but we probably needed it. I was angry after the last game (a 2-1 defeat to Middlesbrough at Carrow Road), and the players knew that when they first saw me (in Tampa).
“But they’ve responded really well to what we want. The training sessions have been good. Their attitude and application has been spot on, and we’ll be as ready as we can be for Swansea.”
For the Swans the mission is a clear one. Four games between now and the end of the year will take us into the second half of the season and if we can gain at least six points from those games then we will enter 2023 in a very strong position to continue a push particularly with the transfer window around the corner.
That transfer window has, of course, already seen the Swans linked with several players and Martin and the team looking at the window will already have lined up their key targets with the Swans boss openly admitting previously that he likes to do his work early when the windows come around.
That though is one for a few weeks time but for now all eyes will return to the Swansea.com stadium on Saturday as we resume league football after the four week absence.
The game kicks off at 3pm Saturday.
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