Swansea v Birmingham Competition - Sky Bet Championship Venue - Swansea.com Stadium Date - 4 February 2023 Kick off - 3:00pm Following their hard fought 1-1 away draw with QPR 2 weeks ago, next up for Russell Martin’s Swansea squad is a home match against an ‘out-of-form’ Birmingham City. On 21st January, Jay Fulton netted his fourth goal of the season to earn the Swans a point at Queens Park Rangers. The Swans fell behind when yet again a former player - this time Jamal Lowe - coolly slotted beyond Steven Benda. For much of the game the Swans failed to trouble home keeper, Seny Dieng, and both Ilias Chair and Lowe had huge opportunities to put the game beyond doubt for the Londoners, and those misses proved costly as Fulton rounded off a fine attack nine minutes from time to clinch a point for the Swans. The Swans were also dealt a blow just after the hour mark when Benda went off after picking up an injury and had to be replaced by Andy Fisher. (Reports suggest that Benda could miss the rest of the season.) Olivier Ntcham made a great impact after coming on for the Swans and would have given them the lead but for an important save by Seny Dieng. The Swans, who remained 11th in the table, had plenty of possession, especially in the second half, but as usual struggled to create clear-cut chances. On Tuesday evening, Blackburn Rovers booked a trip to Leicester City in the FA Cup fifth round after an extra-time win at fellow Championship side Birmingham in their replay. It needed an own-goal from City defender Auston Trusty in the first half of extra time to settle the encounter at St Andrew's. Bradley Dack hit the woodwork for the visitors during normal time while former Rovers man Reda Khadra was one of several Birmingham players thwarted by Rovers keeper Aynsley Pears. In Brum’s last Championship match, played on 21 January, Preston struck twice in six minutes in the first half to pile the misery on Birmingham, who lost their fifth Championship game in a row. The visitors led early on through Ryan Ledson's strike from the edge of the box and they doubled their lead through Alan Browne's header soon after. Birmingham offered little in the way of response for much of the game, with fans going on to protest against the club's ownership as they headed for another defeat. Lukas Jutkiewicz got them off the mark with seven minutes remaining as he headed home from Maxime Colin's cross but they could not find an equaliser. The match was the first to see a woman referee a men's Championship game, with Rebecca Welch in charge. The Swans have played Birmingham on 42 previous occasions, winning 10, losing 20 and drawing 12. In the corresponding fixture last season, the sides played out a 0-0 draw, with the visitors missing several opportunities to win a match they largely dominated. Turning to Saturday, when having lost 5 in a row - and having now not won any of their past 36 games when they have conceded first (losing on 31 of those occasions) following Tuesday's defeat - who better to play to try and break that run …. yep, the Swans …. Given the bad vibes around the club due to the lack of squad strengthening/investment during the transfer window, and with 2 players who were not selected for the QPR match for personal reasons, still in the squad, I must admit to having a bad feeling about Saturday’s match. Hopefully, my concerns are unfounded, but I have a feeling that Birmingham will run out 1-2 winners.
Yep if you want to break a losing streak play us ! Not this time for a change ! No way hossay 1 -0 to us
2014/15 season is on Sky Sports now - table after doing the double over MU Where did it all go wrong …… Selling to the Yanks?
We were so good then that I thought we'd be in the Prem for many years to come We're going nowhere with the vvanks (not upward anyway) but good 'ol Hugh takes the ultimate blame for selling the fans out.
Well, Huw and the other Sellers gave the impression that they had undertaken appropriate Due Diligence and that the Yanks would be ‘good owners/custodians’. There were rumours of potential Chinese buyers - but the difference, or so the rumour mill suggests, was that the Chinese wanted to subscribe for new Share Capital ie put money directly into the Club’s coffers, rather than buy existing shares from the then owners ….. this would have diluted the ownership percentage held by the then shareholders as well as not realising any cash for them personally. No idea if these rumours are correct, but if they are, then from the personal perspective of the then existing owners, I can see (& understand) the attraction of the Yanks
Steven Benda is to undergo knee surgery and will miss the remainder of Swansea City’s 2022-23 season. The goalkeeper suffered a significant knee injury in the Swans Championship draw at Queens Park Rangers last weekend. The 24-year-old has since undergone scans and seen a specialist, with a diagnosis of a torn anterior cruciate ligament. The former 1860 Munich stopper will commence his rehabilitation following surgery, which will rule him out for a significant period. Under-21 goalkeeper Archie Matthews will also be out for a significant period after also suffering a tear to his anterior cruciate ligament while on loan at Oxford City. Matthews has returned to the Swans as he begins his rehabilitation.
please log in to view this image Referee - Jeremy Simpson Assistant Referee 1 - Andrew Dallison Assistant Referee 2 - Andrew Aylott Fourth Official - Peter Wright
Thanks Taff. I think RM has his work cut out to get the team up for this one. I hope he succeeds and we turn it on. So it could either be a 3-1 win or a 1-0 defeat. Only time will tell
Joe Allen picked up a knock in training this week and will miss Saturday’s fixture, and the game comes too soon for midfielder Liam Walsh who played his first minutes since recovering from an Achilles injury in a behind-closed-doors friendly last week. But Russell Martin confirmed that Morgan Whittaker is in Swansea City’s squad for the first time since his return from a loan spell at Plymouth Argyle.
1-0 or 0-1. A game to bore the pants off everyone, but not boring enough to make me watch the rugby stead.