Preview | Huddersfield Town v Swansea City
Swansea City will look to extend their nine-match unbeaten run in the Championship when they face Huddersfield Town at the John Smith’s Stadium this afternoon.
The Swans entered the weekend round of fixtures sitting third in the table, just one point behind second-placed Brentford with two games in hand on the Bees.
There is no doubting Steve Cooper’s side are well placed but, with 18 games remaining, there is still plenty of football to be played and much work to be done.
The head coach has challenged his side to produce an improved performance from their midweek win over Nottingham Forest, and expects them to need it against the Terriers.
Carlos Corberan’s injury-hit side have endured a tough start to 2021, and are winless so far this calendar year.
It’s a run that has seen them fall to within five points of the relegation places, but they were unfortunate not to get anything out of their midweek game at Middlesbrough.
With so much at stake at each end of the table, this will be an important afternoon for both sides.
Team news
Swansea picked up no new injury concerns in the win over Nottingham Forest, with Kyle Naughton expected to be available after taking a blow to the face.
Korey Smith made his return from injury as a substitute, but Liam Cullen, Wayne Routledge, Steven Benda, Brandon Cooper and Tivonge Rushesha remain on the sidelines.
Pre-match views
Steve Cooper: “It’s about playing well in the next game, that’s really important because I don’t think you can rely too heavily on games like the last one.
“You take them when they come, and we might look back at it and realise how important a moment that was.
“But, as I’ve said before, this season is different, it is hard to predict and hard to prepare. We’ve got 10 games in 31 days coming up, and when has that ever happened?
“All I am focused on is Huddersfield, it is a dangerous game, they played really well against Middlesbrough in midweek and we have got to be ready.
“There’s still a big chunk of the season to go, so you look forward rather than back.
“We know we will have to be very good, tactically and technically, on Saturday.”
Carlos Corberan: "I accept any type of opinion, especially from our fans.
"When you are winning maybe Plan A is the magic plan and when you’re winning it’s the perfect thing to have one way and continue believing that way. When you are losing it’s because maybe you didn’t have the Plan B.
"I respect any opinion people can have about me, I know this is part of my job, but my focus is just to continue making the team strong."
Remember the last time?
Jay Fulton’s first goal of the season helped Swansea City extend their unbeaten away run to 11 games with a draw at Huddersfield in November 2019.
The Scottish midfielder had fired the Swans into the lead with an excellent finish from a tight angle.
However, it was not enough to take all three points as Karlan Grant took advantage of a fortuitous deflection to level just before the break.
Neither side could find a winner after the break, and Huddersfield ended the game a man down as Trevoh Chalobah received a straight red after striking George Byers with his head.
Prime numbers
1 – The Swans have emerged victorious from one of their last nine visits to Huddersfield, with that win coming in League One in March 2008 thanks to a Jason Scotland goal.
16 – Swansea have kept 16 clean sheets this season, just eight shy of their all-time record of 24 kept during the 2009-10 campaign.
Today’s mascots
Today we welcome our virtual mascots, Oliver Stilwell and Teo Angheben.
Oliver is aged nine, from Swansea and his favourite player is Jamal Lowe. Oliver plays football for Mumbles Rangers and the Swansea City development side.
Teo celebrated his 13th birthday yesterday. He comes from Cardiff and plays football for Heath Park Rangers and Cardiff Met Academy. His favourite player is also Jamal Lowe.
