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Competition - Sky Bet Championship
Venue - Vicarage Road
Date - 12 March 2025
Kick off - 7:45pm
Following 2 wins and a draw in his first 3 games in charge - the latest being a 1-0 home win over Play Off hopefuls Middlesbrough - next up for Alan Sheehan’s Swansea squad is a visit to Vicarage Road to play Watford.
Last Saturday, the Swans’ unbeaten run under caretaker boss Alan Sheehan continued as Eom Ji-Sung's fine goal dealt a blow to Middlesbrough's Championship play-offs hopes.
South Korea winger Eom produced a classy run and finish from outside the penalty area.
Eom's first Swans goal - in his 30th appearance for the club – was the least Sheehan's team deserved for their impressive first-half display.
Tommy Conway came closest to responding for a disappointing Middlesbrough when his shot was saved by Lawrence Vigouroux.
The Swans’ victory means Sheehan has an impressive return of seven points from three games - and no goals conceded - having taken charge following the departure of Luke Williams last month.
The latest success further eases any relegation concerns that Swansea fans may have, with the Welsh side now 12 points clear of the bottom three in 15th.
Whilst the Swans were beating Boro, Josh Coburn was again Millwall's match-winner, as they came from behind to beat Watford at Vicarage Road and boost their hopes of a Championship play-off place.
Mattie Pollock gave the Hornets the lead with his first league goal for the club, but Casper de Norre slotted into the corner after the break to level the score.
And Coburn - who scored the only goal at Derby in Millwall's previous away game - headed home a right-wing cross as Watford suffered defeat at home for the sixth time this season.
Watford remain 11th, six points adrift of the top six.
The Swans have played Watford on 56 previous occasions, winning 26, drawing 11, and losing 19.
In the corresponding match last season, the teams played out a 1-1 draw:
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Turning to tomorrow evening, Jeremy Simpson will be the man in the middle.
It will be the first Swans fixture Simpson has taken charge of since a 2-0 win over Bristol City at the Swansea.com Stadium in March 2023.
Despite being included on the National List of Referees in 2012 and taking charge of his first Championship match in February 2013, this will be just the eighth time he has overseen a Swans game.
Simpson’s journey as an official began as an assistant. He gained promotion to PGMOL as an assistant referee during the 2005-06 season. He progressed quickly and by 2007 was promoted to Select Group 1 (working in the Premier League) and the FIFA international list.
But in 2010, Simpson switched his focus from the flag to the whistle and took charge of his first EFL match two years later. He has been included in the Select Group 2 officials list since its inception in 2016.
So far this season, Simpson has taken charge of eight matches handing out 29 yellow cards and two reds.
Tomorrow, he will be assisted by Graham Kane and Bhupinder Singh Gill. James Linington will be the fourth official.
With Manager Tom Cleverly under renewed pressure at a Club renowned for sacking Managers ‘at the drop of a hat’, Watford can be expected to be fired up to get their Play-Off campaign back on track.
in fact, on Sunday Cleverly became the first Watford manager since Javi Garcia in 2019 to last a whole 365 days in the role and he will be hoping that they can still get into a Play-Off place.
That said, I think that the Swans are more than capable of returning to South Wales with at least a point.
I’m going for a 1-1 draw.
