Preview | Swansea City v Blackburn Rovers
Swansea City look to extend their unbeaten run on home soil to six Championship games when they host Blackburn Rovers under the lights at the Swansea.com Stadium this evening (7.45pm).
The Swans were frustrated to only pick up a point against Birmingham City at the weekend, but once again produced a performance that underlined the positive strides they have made under Vitor Matos.
They take on a Blackburn side who are without a win in their last five games, picking up three draws in that run, and sit four places and five below the Swans in the table.
Team news
Marko Stamenic could be in contention for a recall having been on the bench against Birmingham City following a bout of illness.
Ishe Samuels-Smith and Adam Idah remain on the sidelines with Matos set to have the same group to choose from as for the weekend clash with the Blues.
The visitors are without the likes of Liam Miller, Andri Gudjohnsen, Kristi Montgomery, Ryoya Morishita while Ryan Alebiosu could feature as he returns from African Cup of Nations duty.
Pre-match views
Vitor Matos: “It is always good to see we are improving and taking the right steps.
“It is good to see we are creating chances and becoming more of a threat as an attacking side.
“We are becoming a more dangerous team, then it is about efficiency and taking the chances.
“Of course we wanted to win, but there was plenty for us to grab onto and take with us in terms of how we performed.
“We are going in the right direction, I am really happy with the boys and the tenacity and character they are putting on the pitch.
“They are resilient and they, along with the fans and the staff, are really buying into the idea of how we want to play.
“We are increasing our possibilities to score, and this comes from our press, the counter press, being dominant with the ball and being close to the opposition goal.
“You also need balance, of course, and that’s how we can continue to get more chances. We feel we are going in the right direction and it is down to keep us going.”
Valerien Ismael: "I'm not worried about the situation because I know that the player will be coming back (from injury). So at some point, we will have it.
"It can't carry on like this until the end of the season, I'm sure.
"At the minute, it's just challenging. We don't get the right timing when we have to play the ball more forward, when we have to keep the ball."
Meet the officials
Anthony Backhouse is the man in the middle on Tuesday night (7.45pm).
Backhouse has been an EFL referee since 2017 and became the first Cumbrian official for more than 40 years to be added to the EFL Referee list.
His career highlights to date include refereeing the National League play-off Final in 2017, being fourth official in the 2022 FA Trophy Final and referee in the FA Vase Final in 2023.
He is taking charge of a Swans game for the fourth time this season, having overseen wins against Sheffield Wednesday and Oxford, and a defeat at Preston North End.
Remember the last time?
Swansea City recorded a first home win of 2025 as goals from Žan Vipotnik, Myles Peart-Harris and Liam Cullen saw them dominate play-off hopefuls Blackburn Rovers at the Swansea.com Stadium.
The Swans needed a reaction following a poor run of form at the start of the new calendar year, and the players produced one.
They got their rewards when Vipotnik bundled home his fifth goal of the season before Peart-Harris’ solo goal gave them a two-goal advantage at the break.
Cullen than added a third with his 11th strike of the campaign as the Swans eased to a valuable three points.
Prime numbers
4 - Swansea have won four of their last seven league games played on a Tuesday (D1 L2), as many as their previous 29 beforehand (W4 D10 L15).
50 - This will be the 50th league meeting between Swansea and Blackburn Rovers, with the Swans looking to win three in a row against Rovers for the very first time.