Yesterday’s 3-0 triumph over Millwall was head coach Michael Duff’s first away win of the season, and it appears that the more significant achievements so far this season have been overlooked slightly. Let us begin there this morning.
In the bottom ten of the Championship standings, the Swans have the best goals scored column as well as the greatest goal difference. Six of the thirteen goals scored this season have come from the past two games against Millwall and Sheffield Wednesday. Jerry Yates has three goals, Jamal Lowe has two, and Mykola Kukharevych has opened his account for the Swans with a coolly taken header yesterday.
Kristian Pedersen had a minor groyne strain in training on Friday, as the Swans warmed up after travelling up a day early for yesterday’s encounter. Jerry Yates was knocked out numerous times during the game and was finally withdrew at halftime with two dead legs. Pedersen will miss Wednesday’s game against Norwich City at the Swansea.Com Stadium (kick-off 7.45pm), and Yates’ rehabilitation will be heavily dependent on his ability to run pain-free in the gym on Monday. We already know that Nathan Wood and Joe Allen will be sidelined until early January, while Josh Ginnelly will be gone for the rest of the season. Azeem Abdulai will be in rehab for many weeks before being released.
After yesterday’s triumph, Duff stated that his squad is becoming “a little thin on the ground.” He was speaking about his ailments. “During training, Kristian Pedersen noticed pain in his groyne. Last week, I believed he was our best player. We’re not sure if he’ll be ready for the next two games, but he’ll be back after the international break.The Swans manager was also forced to make two substitutions during the Millwall game, with Jerry Yates and Charlie Patino coming off. “Jerry took two dead legs, so we’ll just have to see,” Duff continued. Charlie had a cramp. The guys are coming in tomorrow for a cooldown, so hopefully nothing further comes of it since we’re beginning to become a little worried.
However, the welcome return of Liam Walsh to the Swans bench is a bright spot. The problem with Liam is that he gets hurt quickly after returning from injury, so it’s a question of wait and see with him. Mykola (below) making his debut for the Swans at Millwall will give them hope that he can make the transition if he starts on Wednesday; he has a beautiful look to his play and enjoys a challenge. The Swans may be struggling on the pitch this week, but confidence and optimism have returned to west Wales.
Norwich City visit Swansea in seventh place in the league, and they will be a very different prospect than Millwall and Sheffield Wednesday. The Swans have scored nineteen goals this season, but they may take solace in the fact that they have surrendered sixteen. They defeated Birmingham City 2-0 yesterday, but they are not without flaws. They just shipped six at Plymouth and looked ragged all over the park.
