Preview: Derby v Swans
Graham Potter will look for a response from his players when Swansea City take on Derby County this afternoon (3pm).
The Swans head to Pride Park having been beaten in successive home games for the first time in the Potter era.
A team who have defended admirably for most of the season have been guilty of giving away soft goals in their last two games, against Norwich City and West Brom.
As a result, two of the Championship’s promotion contenders left the Liberty Stadium with maximum points.
Now the Swans face a Derby side who also look capable of being in the mix to land a place in the Premier League come the end of the season.
The first objective for Potter’s team today must be to eliminate the cheap goals conceded which have cost them dear in their last two matches.
If they manage that, they will give themselves a chance of chalking up a second successive away win following that 1-0 triumph at Bolton three weeks ago.
Frankl Lampard’s Rams are looking to bounce back themselves, however, having lost 2-1 to 10-man Stoke in midweek.
That was their second defeat in three games following a run of six games without a loss.
Having beaten Sheffield United, West Brom and Birmingham in their last seven outing, Derby will be optimistic about their chances of getting back on track today.
The Swans must try to ensure that does not happen.
TEAM NEWS
Derby will be without midfielder Bradley Johnson after he picked up a fifth booking of the season at Stoke, where his clash with Joe Allen may result in a longer ban.
Skipper Curtis Davies will miss out after injuring an Achilles at Stoke.
He joins Craig Forsyth, Mason Bennett and Joe Ledley on the sidelines, while George Evans is unlikely to feature despite making a comeback from injury in an under-23 game this week.
The Swans are still without Tom Carroll (hip) and Luciano Narsingh (hamstring), but Potter has no fresh injury concerns.
PRE-MATCH VIEWS
Frank Lampard: “They have got good players and a good young manager. My spell at Swansea was very important in my development, I had two months at the age of 17. I was learning the game and I’ve always had a little look for their results over the years because of that period.”
Graham Potter: “We did a lot of things well against West Brom and I believe there is a decent foundation there. Now we all want to improve – that is our aim.”
Matt Grimes: “We need to have a clear game plan, execute it well and make sure we don’t get undone by set-pieces.”
REMEMBER THE LAST TIME?
The Swans last faced Derby in April 2011, when they were beaten 2-1 at Pride Park.
An early Ashley Williams own goal set the tone, as his backpass rolled under the foot of Dorus de Vries.
Steve Davies made it 2-0 to the Rams before Darren Pratley halved the deficit.
But after Stephen Dobbie hit the woodwork, the Swans were beaten.
They last beat Derby in 2010, when Shefki Kuqi scored the only goal in the East Midlands.
PRIME NUMBERS
17 – Derby have taken 17 points from their nine home league games this season. They have lost on their own patch twice, to Leeds and Aston Villa.
6 – The Swans have conceded only six goals away from home this season. That is the best record in the Championship.
