Michael Reeves
There are so many things that go into Saturday’s game that make it one of the most eagerly anticipated fixtures of the season and that is before we take a look at a simple factor that both sides desperately need a win to move them away from the wrong end of the Championship table.
The simple fact for the Swans is that Michael Duff takes his team into the game looking for a first league win as the manager in SA1 at the sixth attempt. Two draws and three defeats in his five games to date are not the start that Duff would have dreamt of when he took his new post back in the summer. And he certainly could have done without the pressure of the derby in that sixth game as Cardiff look to stop a run of form that has seen the Swans win the last four clashes creating the first two league doubles in the fixture in the process.
12 goals for and 2 goals against is the record that the Swans are defending for those four games with the stark reality that Cardiff have not recorded a win in this fixture with a crowd in the stadium since Steve Caulker scored the only goal in a Premier League game back in 2013. They did of course record a win at the (then) Liberty Stadium in 2021 but that was in a closed stadium and with the Swans on their way to a play off final appearance season under Steve Cooper.
All those things will not be lost on a Cardiff City team who have been accused many times over the years of not understanding the importance of the fixture but there is little doubt that both sets of fans on Saturday night will be desperately wanting to secure the first bragging rights of the season.
The Swans season has certainly not been filled of positivity to date but, as discussed on Monday, the options available to Duff this time around will include all of his new summer signings – all thirteen of them – and that could make for an interesting fixture even if it was just to see how he will change his team selection after a two week break and on the back of what was a very poor performance against Bristol City.
Joe Allen is well aware of what the fixture means having scored the last Swans goal at Ninian Park in 2009 before seeing victory snatched away by a terrible decision from Mike Dean right at the end of the game that saw a penalty for the home side level the scoreline.
He is also well aware of the obvious that the Swans have to improve on recent weeks if they are to extend their dominance in the fixture as he said “We’ve had a poor result and poor performance at home, we have had good spells in games, but it is about making sure we stretch that out over a full 90 minutes.
“We have no option other than to dust ourselves down and be better.”
That last fixture against Bristol City was met with additional negativity towards comments made by Michael Duff after the game but Allen reiterated that “I am pretty sure everyone here already knows and understands the magnitude of this next game
“We know we have to do better, it is vital that we do, it is as simple as that, and it is a huge game coming up to try and set things right.”
We await with interest that Duff selection of his team on Saturday and the level of the performance with some suggesting that Saturday is as much about the quality/passion of that performance being as important, if not more so, than the result itself. Something that many would disagree with.
How do you see the game developing and is the performance as/more important than the result? Share your comments using the box below or join in the discussion on the matchday thread on our forum here
