Preview | Swansea City v Wigan Athletic
Swansea City will look to keep their solid run of form going when they host Wigan Athletic at the Liberty Stadium this afternoon.
After a difficult sequence of results, the Swans have shown great character to respond with a sequence that has seen them lose just one of their last seven Championship games.
It has them seventh in the table, outside the play-off places on goal difference alone, and looking to kick on after the boost provided by three exciting January loan signings.
Conor Gallagher followed Rhian Brewster and Marc Guehi to SA1 this week to complete a trio of sought-after acquisitions for the club.
They face a Wigan side with just one victory in their last 15 Championship matches, and who have found goals hard to come by this term.
The hosts will want to ensure that continues given they have kept four clean sheets in their last five league games, despite injuries to Mike van der Hoorn and Joe Rodon.
Further encouragement is offered by Swansea’s good record against the Latics.
They are unbeaten in seven games home and away against the DW Stadium side, and have not lost to them in SA1 since 1991.
But Steve Cooper and his side will need no reminding of just how hard fought the victory in the reverse fixture in November proved to be, and know they will face a stubborn test.
Team news
Swansea City will again be without Mike van der Hoorn as the Dutchman faces around three weeks on the sidelines recovering from the recurrence of a knee injury he suffered against Charlton.
Conor Gallagher could make his debut following his move from Chelsea earlier in the week, while Marc Guehi will also hope to make his Swans bow following his own loan move.
Joe Rodon and Jordon Garrick are nearing a return from their ankle and hamstring injuries respectively, with the pair set to rejoin full training next week.
Pre-match views
Steve Cooper: “They’re playing well. I watched them play Bristol City last week and you think, 2-0, maybe a straightforward win, but I thought Wigan were excellent on the day.
“They picked a fairly strong team in the FA Cup against Leicester and gave a good showing there.
“We go into games with the focus first on ourselves but you can’t take any note of the league table or form in this league.
“You can see some of the results we’ve had, be they good or bad, have not been a reflection of the league table.
“But we’re really keen to get back to the Liberty and play well and win games, because that is something we know we need to do.”
Paul Cook (via Wigan Today): “You just keep going, until somebody tells you differently.
“We’ve been in the bottom three for a long time now.
“The reality is, to get out of trouble, you have to win football games.
“If you don’t win football games, you will be in trouble.”
Remember the last time?
The Swans came from 2-0 down to sign off 2018 with a point in a dramatic draw on Wigan Athletic’s last visit to the Liberty.
The visitors, without an away win since August, had led 2-0 at the break thanks to Joe Garner's brace.
Graham Potter's side pushed and pushed in the second half and pulled one back via Dan Burns' own goal just before the hour mark.
Then they grabbed an equaliser with nine minutes remaining via Mike van der Hoorn, who turned in Bersant Celina's cross.
The Swans went in search of a late winner, with Cameron Carter-Vickers almost turning in late on, but the hosts had to settle for a share of the spoils.
Prime numbers
11 – Wigan have failed to score in 11 Championship fixtures this season, the highest such tally of any side in the division.
29 – Swansea City are unbeaten in seven home meetings with Wigan stretching back over 29 years. The last home defeat to the Latics was a 6-1 loss in April 1991.
