Phil Sumbler
It is hard to believe that it has been just a little under four weeks since the Swans were humiliated at St Mary’s with a 5-0 drubbing on Boxing Day.
Since then we have appointed a new manager, gone four matches without defeat and even gone as far as making a bid on a player in a January transfer window (this is not a drill ladies and gentlemen) and this lunchtime the Swans have the chance to try ad avenge that defeat in front of the Sky cameras.
This has got all the hallmarks of being a potential classic. Southampton arrive in SA1 knowing that avoiding defeat will set a club record of twenty-one games unbeaten, a run that currently stretches back to the last week of September. In the opposition dug out of course will be Russell Martin, the man who vacated the managerial chair at the Swansea.com Stadium back in the summer. He will be up against his former assistant Luke Williams who will take charge of a league game for the first time at home. Ryan Manning, more former Swans are likely to appear for the Saints. And of course the Swans will go into the game very much the underdog looking for what is quite a rare three points at home. Throw all of that together and surely it all points to a home win?
The Swans have their fair share of injuries for the game as explained by Luke Williams in his pre-match press briefing where he commented on the absence of Cabango, Parker, Walsh and Key “Ben Cabango is not ready yet, we think he will be on the grass very soon but this is too early for him,” said the head coach.
“Josh (Key) is a longer-term one, while Sam Parker is awaiting to see the extent of that and we don’t want to put a timescale on it. He has done so well, he has been brave to take the opportunity and is an exciting player.
“Liam Walsh is going to take some time, he is back at the club and now he has a journey in front of him.”
Russell Martin confirmed that new signing Joe Rothwell will be in the squad for his return to South West Wales “Joe will be in the squad. He is looking good. He will take a bit of time to get up to speed with what we are asking of him.
“It’s different to what he has been asked to do at Blackburn and Bournemouth. He is a really good athlete.
“When you have those ingredients it is a really good addition. We have different options to what we already have. I hated playing against him when he was at Blackburn.
“We have really good depth. We are going to need different options for different games.
“We have given ourselves a problem with picking the team, but we have helped ourselves with his addition.
“A new addition in the building has raised the levels in the building again. I’ve really enjoyed watching training this week.”
Luke Williams could not have wished for a tougher league start at home but he will have some level of advantage in so much as there will be a decent sized crowd for the game. It was something the boss was looking forward to as he explained in his programme notes “I’m looking forward to hearing you give the players the full-throated, partisan backing the Jack Army are known for as we look to deliver a performance you can be proud of.”
There will be very few people ahead of this game who will be predicting anything other than a Saints win, particularly after that 5-0 drubbing on Boxing Day. But this is football and football does some very strange things at times. And that is why we predict a first Saints defeat for almost four months.
The JackArmy.net Match Prediction: Swansea City 2-1 Southampton
