Blackburn Rovers v Swansea City Competition - Sky Bet Championship Venue - Ewood Park Date - 29 February 2020 Kick off - 3pm Following their controversial defeat at Craven Cottage when the Swans were on the wrong end of some highly contentious decisions from the officials - particularly the referee - next up for Steve Cooper’s Swansea players is a trip to play-off rivals Blackburn Rovers. On Wednesday evening, Aleksandar Mitrovic snatched an injury-time winner to lift Fulham back into third place as they saw off hard done by Swansea City at Craven Cottage. Mitrovic headed the only goal from Aboubakar Kamara's cross four minutes into added time as the Whites climbed back above Nottingham Forest in the table. Only minutes earlier the Serbian striker's penalty had been saved by Swansea goalkeeper Freddie Woodman, after Connor Roberts was adjudged to have fouled Neeskens Kebano. The Swans, who had battled hard to shackle the Championship's top scorer for much of the game, remain in ninth place, five points off the play-off positions. On the same evening, Blackburn Rovers' play-off ambitions were dented as they were held to a goalless draw at Ewood Park by struggling Stoke City. Potters goalkeeper Jack Butland produced a series of saves to thwart the hosts and earn his side a valuable point in their battle to avoid relegation. The draw meant Rovers stay eighth in the table, four points behind sixth-placed Preston North End, who were beaten by leaders West Bromwich Albion on Tuesday, while Stoke remain 20th, one point above the bottom three. Adam Armstrong, making his 100th league appearance for Blackburn, had their best chances to end the stalemate, but could not find a way past Butland. The Swans have played Blackburn on 42 previous occasions, winning 14, drawing 6 and losing 22. In the reverse fixture at the Liberty in December, the teams drew 1-1, with Blackburn taking the lead courtesy of a goal from former Swan Danny Graham, which was cancelled out by an André Ayew header: Turning to Saturday, whilst the Swans are more than capable of returning to South Wales with all 3 points, I have a feeling that the Swans will suffer from a hangover from the Fulham ‘refereeing debacle’ and will go down tamely 2-0. Hope I’m wrong!
Taff theses are professional footballers with a professional management so shouldn’t be suffering the after effects of that awful officials off Wednesday....same team again but playing at pace from the start no5 half time....2 nil Swans
I’m up beat on this going with a 1-2 win, come on you Swans show the fcukers they will not fcuk us over.
In theory, I would agree, but having been involved in Sports Clubs/Teams at ‘elite’ level, I know that players are, after all, only human and can be impacted by such things. Hopefully, as Matt says, the players will have that backs to the wall siege mentality
I know it’s an early start today for the trip to Blackburn but waking up at 3.30am and not being able to get back to sleep is crazy. And no it’s not excitement about the trip I can assure everyone...
Swansea City head coach Steve Cooper hands Jordon Garrick his first league start in this afternoon's Championship clash with fellow play-off hopefuls Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park (3pm). Garrick is the sole change to the starting XI from the midweek defeat at Fulham, with the 21-year-old taking the place of Aldo Kalulu. The winger has scored three times in his ten Swans appearances, with his sole start coming in the Carabao Cup win over Cambridge United in August. Other than that, Cooper sticks to the rest of the team that were cruelly denied a point at Craven Cottage due to Aleksandar Mitrovic's 94th-minute header. Bersant Celina, meanwhile, again misses out through illness. The Swans look to end a long wait for victory at Ewood Park, with the club's last victory at Blackburn coming in 1971. Blackburn Rovers: Christian Walton, Ryan Nyambe, Adam Armstrong, Joe Rothwell, Sam Gallagher, Dominic Samuel, Amari'i Bell, Stewart Downing, Tosin Adarabioyo, Lewis Travis, Elliott Bennett (capt). Subs: Jayson Leutwiler, Danny Graham, Bradley Johnson, Harry Chapman, Ben Brereton, Joe Rankin-Costello, John Buckley. Swansea City: Freddie Woodman, Kyle Naughton, Joe Rodon, Ben Cabango, Jake Bidwell, Matt Grimes (capt), Jay Fulton, Conor Gallagher, Jordon Garrick, Andre Ayew, Rhian Brewster. Subs: Erwin Mulder, Connor Roberts, Ben Wilmot, Yan Dhanda, Nathan Dyer, Aldo Kalulu, Liam Cullen.