Preview | Swansea City v West Bromwich Albion
Swansea City will be looking to finish the 2022-23 campaign on a high as they host West Bromwich Albion at the Swansea.com Stadium this afternoon (3pm kick-off).
The Swans have already surpassed their points total from the previous campaign and a win will see them earn a top-10 finish.
The home side are also looking to keep up their unbeaten run, which would stretch to nine if they avoid defeat on bank holiday Monday.
The visiting Baggies, meanwhile, are one of the teams still in with a chance of claiming a place in the play-offs thanks to a victory over Norwich City last time out.
Carlos Corberan’s side will need to win this afternoon and hope that Blackburn Rovers and Preston North End also win their respective games.
Team news
Head coach Martin will have the same group to choose from as he did at Hull City last weekend.
Midfielders Liam Walsh and Jay Fulton will miss out with injury, while Joe Allen will serve the final game of a three-match ban.
Goalkeeper Steven Benda is a long-term absentee.
Pre-match views
Russell Martin: “We want to win ideally, simple as that.
“We have got a big crowd in again, it’s another bank holiday game, so we want to finish strongly and put in a performance similar to the last eight or nine games and finish the season unbeaten
“We have a chance to finish in the top 10, and we have a chance to finish above West Brom, if we win and win well we can do it.
“It’s not about ending their season or stopping anything they are trying to do. It’s about us continuing to perform at the levels we have shown over two extended periods of the season.
"They are a good side, Carlos has done a great job there and they are good at what they do. They will pose us different problems to recent games, but it is up to us to find the solutions.
“The energy in the group has been so good and I want to continue that. We don’t need any more motivation than that.”
Carlos Corberan: “We now arrive to the last game of the season still with an option to get to where we want to be and I think I have to give the players a lot of credit for that.
“We finished the game [against Norwich City] in the best way possible and I have to give a lot of credit to the effort that they were giving. Competing how they were competing was very positive.
“The only thing we can do now is prepare for our last game of the season and be focused on that.
“Our position in the table is similar to Swansea and we know that they are a very good team.
“As soon as you have one minimum possibility, you need to fight. We still have a chance and we need to kill for this chance now.”
Remember the last time?
Swansea City came from behind to beat West Bromwich Albion and claim consecutive Championship victories for the first time under Russell Martin on the Baggies last visit to SA1 in October 2021.
The visitors, second in the table going into the game, were ahead after just 52 seconds as they stunned the Swansea.com Stadium.
But the Swans came out fighting and goals after the break from Joel Piroe and Jamie Paterson sealed the points.
Paterson provided the assist for Piroe on the hour mark before the partnership was flipped as Piroe turned provider, setting up Paterson who went on to nutmeg Kyle Bartley and poke home.
That proved enough as the Jack Army celebrated another win on home soil.
Prime numbers
3 – The Swans have won their previous three meetings with West Bromwich Albion and drew the match before that 0-0. However, prior to that unbeaten run they suffered a 5-1 loss to the Baggies at The Hawthorns.
9 – The Swans are looking to make it nine games without defeat this afternoon. If they manage it, they will match their longest unbeaten run under Russell Martin which took place between March 19 and April 26, 2022. The Swans have already amassed more points in this current run as they drew five of those nine games in 2022.
65 – The Swans have scored 65 goals this season, seven more than they managed last season.