Rob Davies
It’s the day when Swansea City can make further history as they travel the short trip along the M4 to face fierce rivals Cardiff City this afternoon.
Again not covered on Sky Sports, the match takes place at 3pm and is once again a bubble trip for the near 2000 away fans making the journey to the Cardiff Citt Stadium.
Having already won the reverse fixture 2-0 earlier this term the pressure is somewhat off Russell Martin and his players in derby day terms but certainly not when considering overall form.
The win against Bristol City was welcome but a loss today could still see rhe Swans pushed down to 18th in the table; a position no one foresaw at the start of the campaign when optimism was high of a substantially better finish than last season.
But as we all know these derby games see form go very much out the window and if there’s anything Martin has been able to motivate his team for, it’s the games against Cardiff.
In reality the win against the Robins before the international break ended any faint concerns of a relegation fight but after the huge drop in form some positive results are needed for both manager and players before the end of this season.
There’s just five weeks left until the final whistle blows against West Bromwich Albion, eight games with four at home and therefore plenty of points to play for.
Team News
Joe Allen is fit and is therefore likely to be amongst the substitutes whilst Jay Fulton is back after his suspension for too many yellow cards giving Russell Martin what he calls his “strongest ever bench.”
It wouldn’t be a surprise to see him stick with what worked so well against Bristol City especially after the performance of Liam Walsh although I’d perhaps suggest the dogged nature of Fulton might be helpful this afternoon.
Perhaps he could come in for Cundle although with Ollie Cooper also pushing for a start it’s a bit of a headache for the head coach.
After that clean sheet two weeks ago Andy Fisher will no doubt feel much better and will retain his place behind what will hopefully be a back four in Darling, Wood, Cabango and Manning.
Then comes Grimes, Fulton and Walsh with Ntcham, Piroe and Cullen in the front three?
We will find out at 2pm!
Views of the Managers
Russell Martin “I could come out here and give you a load of platitudes about being just another game, but it’s not, we all know that.
“We have felt it three times now. Fortunately we have been on the right side of the result those three times, which has been an amazing feeling”
Sabri Lamouchi “It will be a tough game. Even if they are not so far from us, they are doing well. They concede a lot, but they score a lot. You will not find a team in the league who play more passes than them. The way they play is with possession and combinations, so it will be tough.
“I know how the game is important for our fans, for the Club, for our players, I know that. It’s three points that are important for us in our situation.”
Prediction
Cardiff City 1-1 Swansea City
If we don’t give away silly goals we should win – but keeping a clean sheet is a major problem .It runs through the club and needs addressing .Watched the u 21 yesterday lead 4-0 at half -time before conceding 3 second half goals .Once Ipswich changed tactics and started pressing further up the field we defended much the same as the first team.