Phil SumblerSo this is it. After what seems like an age to wait for the first leg to come around, the Swans head into play off action this evening knowing that they could be three games away from a return to the Premier League.
It feels like longer than three years since we lost that Premier League place after seven years but the right run of results over the next 12 days and it will bring top flight football back to Swansea again.
It has been a strange season in more ways than one. The global pandemic has meant that we have played all 46 games behind closed doors so maybe it is with some level of irony that the play off semi finals will see fans finally returning to football stadia. The season started in September and finished in May and it appeared for large parts of the season that we were playing twice a week so to go nine days without a game is almost unheard of. And finally, for a team that at the start of February looked like real automatic promotion candidates we fell away but still ended up 4th in the table equalling the points tally of Brendan Rodgers 2011 side in the process.
All of that though will count for nothing this evening as we head to Barnsley with effectively a one in four chance of being the side that triumphs at Wembley on 29 May. Three wins and it is ours. Three draws and some accuracy from the penalty spot could have the same effect but would our nerves be able to handle it?
“The play-offs stand by themselves. Anything can happen,” said Swans captain Matt Grimes when asked about how he viewed the play offs.
“Teams will be throwing the kitchen sink at it to get back to the promised land.
“These are unique games, but we are hoping that with the experience we gained last year we will be fully equipped to go one further this time.
“These are the games that you want to be involved in. These could take us to the next level, and it’s hugely exciting.”
In the opposition corner we have defender Mads Andersen who said “I’ve never been in the play-offs or big games like that, but I think momentum is really key to go through, I feel confident for the whole team. Everyone looks confident, so I have a good feeling.
“Our goal is to get to Wembley and to take it from there. In a final, anything can happen.”
The Swans have beaten Barnsley twice already this season, with the two games either side of Christmas seeing us win 2-0 but – as they say – that was then and this is now and the results of those two games will mean nothing over the course of the next two games as the two sides battle it out for that Wembley place.
The first leg of any two legged tie is always an interesting one to watch as they can often be cagey affairs with neither side ready to want to give up too much and find themselves out of contention before the second leg. It will also be interesting to see what the impact of the fans returning can have on the game and whether that can help the side at home in both legs.
The only thing we can ask as fans of the team in the two games ahead is that they give it all and look to secure the wins that will take us to Wembley and that nobody looks back at the end of the tie and say we had more to give. Give it your all and nobody will have any complaints if we aren’t good enough.
So that is enough of the talk for now. It is time for the action on the pitch and the start of the play off excitement to come through again. Let’s put the disappointment of last year behind us and progress again – whatever your thoughts on the season gone the time is now to be behind Steve Cooper and his side – remember, dreams can come true if you believe!
