Preview | Swansea City v West Bromwich Albion
Swansea City will look to carry a strong end to 2025 into the new year when they host West Bromwich Albion at the Swansea.com Stadium this afternoon (3pm).
The Swans have won four of their last six Championship games, keeping three clean sheets, including Monday's victory over Oxford United.
West Brom, meanwhile, beat Queens Park Rangers on Monday, bouncing back after defeats to Hull City and Bristol City. The Baggies have lost their last eight games on their travels.
Team news
The Swans will be without Adam Idah, who is set for a spell on the sidelines with a hamstring injury, while Liam Cullen will also be absent with a calf problem.
Defender Ricardo Santos has a hip injury, but head coach Vitor Matos reported no new injury concerns following victory at the Kassam Stadium on Monday.
West Brom forward Tammer Bany has been ruled out for four months with a thigh injury that requires surgery.
Pre-match views
Vitor Matos: “We have missed home, that is for sure.
“Having two away games in this short period of time was hard for us, and we have had to handle that.
“Playing at home in front of our fans is important to us, but that does not mean anything if we do not do our jobs and perform on the pitch.
“That’s what we need, because it will be a tough game against a good team.
“We know how hard it will be after the second half in our last game against them, so we have to be ready to compete.
“We have learned from that, I feel we are making small improvements in parts of the game. The foundations are getting settled in terms of the energy, the hunger and the desire because we need that.
“That has to be the mindset because there is still a lot to come from us.”
Ryan Mason: "It's not normal to lose that many games in a row away from home.
"We have tampered and changed a few things to give ourselves a better platform to get results. We need to stay strong with our principles, what we believe in, and try and assert ourselves.
"It's not good enough, losing that many games, absolutely not, it needs to change."
Meet the officials
James Linington will be the man in the middle for this afternoon's game.
The Isle of Wight official took charge of his first EFL match in 2008 – a League One encounter between Yeovil Town and Crewe Alexandra – and has since been promoted to Select Group 2, working mostly in the Championship.
Linington has also been fourth official for a number of Premier League encounters.
He first oversaw a Swansea match in 2009 – a second-round League Cup defeat to Scunthorpe United in which he sent off Garry Monk, Gorka Pintado and Angel Rangel – and has blown the whistle on a further 14 matches involving the Swans.
He was most recently in charge of a Swans game for a 4-0 defeat at Portsmouth on New Year’s Day last year.
On Thursday, Linington will be assisted by Bhupinder Singh Gill and Andrew Dallinson. Ben Toner will be the fourth official.
Remember the last time?
Joe Allen struck in the final moments to give Swansea City a share of the spoils against West Bromwich Albion when the Baggies last visited the Swansea.com Stadium.
The Swansea substitute was on hand in stoppage time to send a perfect glancing header into the far corner of the net from Ronald's volleyed cross.
The home side had looked set to fall to defeat after Baggies substitute Tom Fellows profited from a swift counter-attack halfway through the second period.
In a game of few clear opportunities, Liam Cullen, Zan Vipotnik and Josh Tymon all head half-chances, while Lawrence Vigouroux denied Karlan Grant and Mikey Johnston at the other end.
Prime numbers
10 - Swansea City have lost only one of their last 10 home league meetings with West Bromwich Albion (W7 D2), going unbeaten in their last five (W3 D2).
29 - No team have suffered more defeats on New Year's Day in the Football League than West Bromwich Albion (29 – level with Preston), though the Baggies did beat Preston North End 3-1 on this day last year.