Preview | Middlesbrough v Swansea City
Russell Martin will be seeking a response from his Swansea City side when they take on Middlesbrough at the Riverside Stadium this afternoon (3pm).
The Swans head coach was disappointed with a lack of intensity and some sloppy errors from his side in last weekend's loss to Reading, which ended a seven-match unbeaten run on home turf.
It also saw Swansea miss out on the chance to close to within two points of the play-off places and Martin admitted it felt like an opportunity missed.
So he will be keen to see his players move on and respond against a Middlesbrough side adjusting to life under former Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder.
The Swans have lost just two of their last 12 meetings with Boro, and their away form has been improving with recent wins at Coventry and Barnsley.
But they will expect a tough test on Teesside.
Team news
Swans boss Martin looks set to once again have a fully fit squad to choose from after reporting no new injury concerns.
And he will weigh up whether to make any changes following the defeat to Reading last time out.
Pre-match views
Russell Martin: "I feel like at Derby and Barnsley in particular, you’d suggest we were the home and dominant team.
"The Barnsley performance, I loved it. We were so dominant. It took a while to break them down and you have to respect them. But I thought it was a really strong away performance, and I think these guys are brave enough now to play the way we want to play home and away.
"At 1-0 up you can easily slip into the mindset of trying to hang on to what you’ve got.
"That is the challenge for us, to be the team we want to be everywhere we go. Never losing the way we want to play. This game will be the same."
Chris Wilder: “Everybody has taken on board what we’ve tried to do and hopefully they’ve enjoyed it.
"I’ve got to say, I’m not that bothered if they haven’t enjoyed it.
“There have been lots of smiles on the faces, we want this to be a good place to come and work. I want them to enjoy their work.
“When you get players of the attitude that want to come into work and want to improve their game and enjoy the sessions that we’ve put on for them, you get a better standard out of them overall.
“Hopefully we can do that with the players that we’ve got."
Remember the last time?
Swansea City suffered frustration on Teesside as Duncan Watmore’s brace gave Middlesbrough the spoils at the Riverside Stadium.
The striker fired the hosts into the lead via a fortunate deflection in the 25th minute, and doubled their advantage by finishing a counter-attack in the 65th minute.
Yan Dhanda gave Swansea hope as he pulled one back through a deflected strike of his own, but it was not to be as the visitors suffered just a third league defeat of the season.
The Swans had their chances to get something from the game – with Viktor Gyokeres having the best of them - and were also left wondering how they were denied a spot-kick when there appeared to be a handball and a foul on Andre Ayew in quick succession during the first half.
Prime numbers
4 - Three players are leading the way when it comes to assists for the Swans this season. Joel Piroe, Jamie Paterson and Ryan Manning all have four apiece.
6 - Swansea City have a perfectly balanced record at the Riverside Stadium. In six visits to the ground they have recorded two wins, two draws and two defeats.
