Swans looking to bounce back as Watford arrive in SA1

The Swans will be looking to put behind them their first defeat in six at the weekend when Watford visit the Swansea.com Stadium this evening.  Your match preview is here

There was certainly no shame in the defeat to Leicester City on Saturday with the Swans in the game for large periods and could certainly class themselves as unlucky not to get the game back to 2-2 with a strong save and a plausible penalty shout during that period.

All the positives from the weekend game need to be taken into tonight’s fixture with Swans boss Michael Duff needing to consider whether he wants to make changes or stick with the same starting line-up that he named for Saturday’s game.   One of those decisions could be around Josh Key who took a knock in the weekend fixture and seemed to take a while to shake it off – nothing has really been said after the game but some have suggested it could lead to him being rested this evening.

That said I personally think he will be named in the side with Duff likely to stick with the same starting line up that he did name on Saturday

Predicted line-up: Rushworth, Key, Darling, Humphreys, Tymon, Patino, Grimes, Paterson, Cullen, Lowe, Yates.

Michael Duff is clear that he wants his side to bounce back tonight and his programme notes this evening read “I said after the game Saturday that ultimately we have lost and we are never going to be happy with that and we want to bounce back quickly.

“The challenge for us is to make sure we back up that performance, and the ones we produced in the run of four wins prior to that, tonight.  What we can’t do is assume because we put in a decent performance on Saturday, that we will be alright tonight.

“We have got to try and build on the weekend, while remembering we did not get anything out of the game.  We have been beaten, we need to dust ourselves down and get ready to go again, but I have no doubt the players will do that because of the togetherness they have already shown so far this season.”

Watford manager Valérien Ismaël is aware of the challenge that the Swans will face when he said “Swansea have a mix of playing styles. We expect a game like Cardiff City, so we have to be ready to press and fight for the second balls. There will be a lot of duels in an away game. We have found a new stability, and now we want to go and push forward to stay stable.

“We have a strong squad and all the players available. We can pick the squad or the team we need for the game, and this is what we want to implement – everyone is important. Everyone should get the chance and when we go through the gameplan it’s what we need on the pitch. If you have quality in all positions, then you can afford to have a quick turnaround.

“It’s a nice challenge now to go for that next step. We know that we can improve our away record, so now it’s the challenge to go from the win last Saturday and keep that momentum going with a great performance against Swansea City, and then change the course of our away record.”

As with most midweek games there is expected to be a reduced crowd in attendance this evening particularly when you factor in the fact that the game is available on the Sky red button.

From our perspective this has to be a game that we target for a victory.   Watford are struggling this season compared to their expectations as a club and we have to capitalise on that.   As Duff said there were many positives that can be taken from the weekend game but we have to take those positives and put in another performance and, assuming we do so, then we should be good enough to pick up the three points this evening.

Or at least that’s my belief anyway!

Prediction: Swansea City 3-0 Watford.

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