Planet Swans ArchivesSpare a thought for Swansea City defender Marcos Painter this Friday evening as his former club Birmingham City roll into the Liberty Stadium. The 22 year old was on course to face his former club when a cruciate knee injury sustained against Southampton put a stop to his plans to impress the Midlands club.
Born and bread in Birmingham the defender has made the left back role his own but this cruel blow has sidelined him potentially for the rest of the season. With the chance to test himself against the club he supported as a boy has weighed heavily on his shoulders and was firmly a game he was looking forward to as he told the Birmingham post, “It was going to be a big game for me as I’ve been a Birmingham fan for all of my life. At the start of the season I was looking forward to both of those games but circumstances have changed because of my injury, I’ll be spectating rather than participating.”
Demand for tickets for the clash however are still in high in the Painter household with the defender under huge pressure to make sure at least his family can have a friday night to remember but has revelled not all his family will be rooting for Swansea City as he now alludes, “Those were really going to be the massive games for me, the hardest one to take will be the St Andrew’s fixture which is just after Christmas. Birmingham is always the first fixture I look for even when all the cups have been drawn, it’s such a shame that I will miss it.Half of my family are coming down, a few will be in the Birmingham end but my close family will be in the Swansea stand.”
Looking ahead to the game tomorrow evening, Painter is expecting a tough test against a second placed Blues side under the management of the vastly experienced Alex McLeish, the defender is not surprised that his former club have done so well, he said “ You won’t be able to tell until the two teams meet on Friday but I’m confident that it would be a good game because I know that we like to get the ball down and play. Birmingham were tipped for promotion at the start of the season so it’s doesn’t surprise me that they are near the top. When you’ve got a quality squad like Birmingham have, you’re always likely to be contenders.”
