Preview | Swansea City v Ipswich Town
Swansea City will look to end a gruelling run of seven games in 21 days on a winning note when they host Ipswich Town at the Swansea.com Stadium this afternoon (3pm).
The Swans won last time out in the league on home soil against Norwich City, but were frustrated to only pick up a point from tough away trips to Charlton and Preston.
Ipswich, meanwhile, were among the pre-season promotion favourites and have hit a good run of form of late.
Team news
Alan Sheehan will make a late decision on the availability of Zeidane Inoussa after the winger missed the defeat at Preston with a knee issue.
Žan Vipotnik played at Deepdale after a quad injury settled down, but Marko Stamenic will be absent as he remains on compassionate leave.
Pre-match views
Alan Sheehan: “Ipswich have been picking up form, they are obviously a team that were in the Premier League.
“They have invested a lot of money in their team and the manager has brought a lot of success to the football club. They have accumulated a strong squad and you would expect them to be up there, no doubt about it.
“You can see the league is quite temperamental at the moment, anyone can beat anyone so it is about being consistent. There are teams you see putting results together back to back, a lot of teams are capable of that and I have no doubt we are one of them.
“It’s about being a bit more ruthless and getting into that rhythm of winning games. We are very close but nobody is going to give you anything be that decisions or anything else in your favour.
“We have got to do it ourselves and I’ve got no doubt that if we continue to perform and with the fans bringing their positive energy to that then we can make every game in the Championship difficult for our opponents.”
Kieran McKenna: “They are a team that play really well from a possession-based point of view and have a great structure with the ball.
“We know it’s going to be a tough game, they are a good team and can beat anyone on their day.
“We have prepared for them as well as we can in the couple of days we have had but it is about being ready and delivering the best that we can.”
Meet the officials
Ed Duckworth is the man in the middle for this afternoon’s contest.
This will be the first time Duckworth has taken charge of a Swans game, although he has previously served as fourth official at a game in SA1.
Duckworth is in his third season as an EFL referee and so far this season he has handed out 49 yellow cards and one red in 15 games.
This will be the third Championshio fixture he has been at the helm for, and he will be assisted by Nigel Lugg and David Harrison, while Richie Watkins will be the fourth official.
Remember the last time?
Jerry Yates’ eighth goal of the season was not enough to prevent Swansea City suffering defeat against Ipswich Town at the Swansea.com Stadium.
The hosts had trailed to Nathan Broadhead’s delicate finish early on, but responded well to level when Yates turned in from close range.
However, the Tractor Boys quickly restored their lead when Conor Chaplin finished off a sweeping attack in the 34th minute.
The home side had plenty of pressure and promising moments during the second period, but they were unable to find another leveller.
Prime numbers
2 - Swansea have lost their past two home league games against Ipswich, having lost just one of their first 13 against them between 1947 and 2011 (W7 D5).
9 - Jisung Eom’s goal at Preston made him the ninth player to score for the Swans this season, with Žan Vipotnik, Adam Idah, Ronald, Ethan Galbraith, Cameron Burgess, Liam Cullen, Goncalo Franco and Bobby Wales the others to get on the scoresheet.