Preview | Swansea City v Millwall

16th August
First team
Liberty Stadium general view

Swansea City host Millwall at the Swansea.com Stadium this evening (7.45pm) looking to record a first home win of the season.

The Swans will be looking to build on their first victory of the 2022-23 season on Saturday, when Olivier Ntcham’s 87th minute finish sealed three points for Russell Martin’s side against Blackpool.

The visitors are going in search of their first win on the road having lost both away matches this term, with a defeat at Sheffield United in the league and a 1-0 loss at Cambridge Untied in the Carabao Cup.

They have won both home matches with Saturday's win coming in dramatic circumstances as they fought from 2-0 down to beat Coventry City 3-2, with George Saville’s 85th minute strike proving to be the matchwinner.

TEAM NEWS

Close up of Jamie Paterson in the 2022-23 home shirt

Jamie Paterson won’t be available for the visit of the Lions. Assistant head coach Matt Gill confirmed the 30-year-old is progressing well with his rehab from a groin injury and may be available for Saturday’s visit from Luton Town, but this evening’s clash will come too early.

Liam Walsh is the only other injury absentee for the Swans as he faces a lengthy recovery from a ruptured Achilles.

PRE-MATCH VIEWS

Matt Gill: “It was nice to put on a good away performance, like we did at Rotherham, which could quite have easily been three points.

“It’s good now to put that first win to bed and look forward. 

‘We’re now really excited to be back home and have two games. It’s an important week for us.

“We go into it with a little bit of confidence from Saturday. We need to make sure that we are ourselves at home and show that aggressiveness that we did against Blackpool. 

“I think the performance is the most important thing. Hopefully, that will then lead to three points.

“It’s down to us to show the energy on Tuesday night that we did on Saturday.”

Gary Rowett:  “Most teams find it a bit easier to play at home. Of course, they do. Most teams find it a bit difficult to create good away form, but we’ve got the squad to do that this year.

“We’ve got that resilience. We’ve got that mentality to go away from home and run and chase out those performances. Now we have to go and show it, don’t we?

“We’ve got two tough ones coming up. I don’t think the team can be judged until 10 away games.

“Swansea away and Norwich away are both challenging games, let alone on a Tuesday night and a Friday night, but we will certainly go to those games with a thin squad but with a little more confidence after the final 70 minutes of Saturday’s game.”

REMEMBER THE LAST TIME?

The two sides played out a goalless draw the last time they met at the Swansea.com Stadium.

Russell Martin’s side had their chances, with Joel Piroe, Jamie Paterson and Michael Obafemi going closest; the latter seeing his effort clip the outside of the post.

Swansea again had the better of territory and possession, with long periods of control, but could not find a breakthrough.

Ben Hamer kept a second-straight clean sheet, and made two important saves during the closing stages as it ended all-square.

PRIME NUMBERS

Millwall away Joel Piroe goal

10 – Swansea’s recent record in this fixture has been a good one. They’ve only lost one of the last 10 meetings, winning six of those encounters.

32 – Across the 54 meetings between the two sides, at least one team has failed to score on 32 occasions. This held true in the both matches last season. The home match ended in a goalless draw, while the Swans won the away fixture 1-0.