Preview | Huddersfield Town v Swansea City
Swansea City will look to back up two home wins with a positive performance on the road as they make the trip to west Yorkshire to face Huddersfield Town this afternoon (3pm kick-off).
Luke Williams’ side recorded back-to-back victories by seeing off Stoke City and Rotherham United in SA1 - keeping clean sheets in both matches - and they will look to build on those results by picking up another three points against the relegation-threatened Terriers.
The home side, who sit 22nd in the table, are only one point behind Birmingham City and three behind Stoke City and Queens Park Rangers, so a win today could be crucial to their survival hopes.
TEAM NEWS
The Swans are boosted by the return of Nathan Wood who could feature this afternoon, but it was bad news elsewhere with head coach Williams confirming that Joe Allen, Przemyslaw Placheta and Kyle Naughton are set to miss the remainder of the season.
Josh Ginnelly is back on the grass doing individual work as he steps up his return ahead of next season, after suffering a ruptured Achilles tendon last September.
PRE-MATCH VIEWS
Luke Williams: “I want to see energy levels that are the same as we have shown in the last two games.
“I want us to continue to work to entertain the people who go out of their way to support the club they love.
“We need to show them the respect they deserve, and that’s continuously the message to the group.
“When we get it right, we will be in a good place, when we get it wrong we have to be honest about it and get right back at it.
“Playing for this club is motivation enough."
André Breitenreiter: “We want to play forward, we want to create chances, we want to score goals, because when you have good moments in an attacking style, then you have the fans behind you.
“We play against an opposition that is in good form now.
“We also need patience, because we have 90 minutes, and we need the three points. Against Millwall, we showed it’s also possible in the 90 plus five [to get the win].”
MEET THE OFFICIALS
John Busby will be the man in charge when Swansea City travel to Huddersfield Town on Saturday (3pm kick-off).
It will be the ninth time the Oxfordshire-based official has overseen a Swans match following his promotion to Select Group 2 in the summer of 2021.
On Saturday, he will be assisted by Blake Antrobus and Andrew Dallison. James Linington will be the fourth official.
REMEMBER THE LAST TIME
The Swans' last visit to the John Smith's Stadium was a largely frustrating one with the away side forced to settle for a point as they played out a goalless draw with in the final game before the World Cup break.
Swansea looked the most likely to find a breakthrough through, boasting the lion’s share of possession and forcing Huddersfield keeper Lee Nicholls into a handful of important saves, but they just couldn’t find a way to break down the organised Terriers' defence.
Michael Obafemi’s effort late in the second half, which clattered the post, was the closest anyone came to breaking the deadlock.
Steven Benda made his first save of the afternoon in injury time at the end of the game with Nathan Wood on hand to clear the follow-up effort off the line to prevent what would have been a smash and grab victory for the home side.
PRIME NUMBERS
5 - While the Swans haven't won in their past five visits to the John Smith's Stadium, four of these games ended in a draw.
6 - The Swans sit sixth in the Championship form table (over six games) picking up 10 points from a possible 15, averaging 1.7 points per game.
32 - Huddersfield Town is not a favourable away opponent for the Swans. They have won just one away match against the Terriers since 1992 (32 years). The two most recent visits were draws.