Preview | Sheffield Wednesday v Swansea City
Swansea City look to build on a fine performance and result when they head to Hillsborough to take on Sheffield Wednesday this evening (6pm).
Steve Cooper’s side snapped a four-game losing streak with an emphatic 3-0 win at Millwall on the weekend, and know a repeat three-point haul in south Yorkshire will go a long way to ensuring at least a play-off spot.
They remain 10 points behind second-placed Watford, and are six points clear of seventh-placed Reading with a game in hand on both those sides.
The Swans take on a Wednesday side who are fighting for their Championship lives, lying seven points from safety with just 18 left on the table.
So the stakes are high and both sides will be desperate to emerge with a result that could be crucial in the final analysis.
Team news
Swansea City have no new injury concerns following the win at Millwall, and Cooper will have to decide whether to stick with the same side that performed so well at The Den.
Liam Cullen, Steven Benda and Tivonge Rushesha remain on the sidelines for the Swans.
Pre-match views
Steve Cooper: "The focus for us is to make sure we are ready to go again.
"We have got a good result and a good performance, but we need to make sure that is no one-off and we can start a good run over the remaining games.
"As you've seen through some of our results recently, we can’t go into any game thinking it's straightforward.
"The Championship is notorious for surprises.
"You saw their last result and home performance where they beat Cardiff 5-0, who would have seen that coming? Not many.
"We always treat every game like the opposition will be at their best because that's the respect you should always show in competition."
Jamie Smith (assistant manager): "We’ll fight for the full 18 points that are left this season. We still believe, you have to, we’ll fight for all the points.
"It will be good to have the gaffer (Darren Moore) back as a presence around the training ground (following a period of self-islation).
"He’s been in regular contact with everyone from the staff to the players, but having him back in person will give everyone a big boost."
Remember the last time?
Ben Wilmot snatched a point for Swansea City as they kept their unbeaten away record intact in a dramatic finish at Hillsborough in November 2019.
Andre Ayew’s close-range finish, his sixth goal of the season, had given the Swans a 32nd-minute lead in South Yorkshire.
They looked on course for just a second victory in 15 league trips to face Wednesday, but were pegged back with 10 minutes to go as Fernando Forestieri finished from inside the six-yard box.
And they looked set to end up with nothing to show for their efforts as Morgan Fox slammed home in stoppage time after the Swans had been unable to deal with a corner.
But, with a heartbreaking defeat in prospect, up popped Wilmot to find the bottom corner in front of the 700 travelling Jacks who had made the journey to South Yorkshire.
Prime numbers
1 – Swansea Coty have won just once in 17 visits to Hillsborough dating back to 1925. That came courtesy of a 2-0 Championship win in December 2009, with Darren Pratley netting both goals.
45 - Andre Ayew has now scored 45 goals in Swansea City goals, with 30 of those coming across his two seasons in the Championship.
Today’s mascots
Tonight we welcome our virtual mascots, cousins Charlie Power and Jaxson Thomas.
Charlie is aged four, from Swansea, and his favourite player is Conor Hourihane.
Jaxson is also aged four, from Swansea, and his favourite player is Freddie Woodman.
Enjoy the game!
