Preview | Millwall v Swansea City
Swansea City travel to The Den to face Millwall this afternoon (3pm) looking to build on last weekend's victory over Sheffield Wednesday.
The Swans defeated the Owls 3-0 at the Swansea.com Stadium and will be hoping for a similar performance away from home against the Lions.
Similarly, Millwall’s last home match was a 3-0 win against Rotherham United which they backed up with a 1-1 draw on the road against West Bromwich Albion.
Both sides will be hoping a win this afternoon will help to continue building momentum.
TEAM NEWS
The Swans have been dealt a significant blow on the injury front this week.
Josh Ginnelly has been ruled out for the season after he ruptured his Achilles against Sheffield Wednesday, while Nathan Wood (ankle) and Joe Allen (groin) are both ruled out until January following surgery.
There are some returning figures to the squad, however, with Kyle Naughton and Liam Walsh available for selection. Ollie Cooper also returns after serving his one-match ban.
PRE-MATCH VIEWS
Michael Duff: “There were positives in that performance [against Sheffield Wednesday]. The supporters stuck with the players from the start, the clean sheet was a positive and I think we played on the front foot and pinched the ball back well.
“The first two goals came from a press and then a counter-press and we’ve said we want to be more aggressive and on the front foot, but I thought we played some positive football too.
“During the challenges we’ve faced, the players have stuck together. They know there’s a lot of work to do.”
Gary Rowett: "If you take out Norwich and the second half against Leeds, there’s not been too much to dislike overall.
“It’s like anything our aim and our ambition is to try and get into the top six but I could show you another 15 teams who have the same aim and ambition. The reality is, it’s a very hard league and a very tough league to just go out and get three points every week.
“We just must keep working hard keep building on these performances and try and get some consistency. The last five games we have shown a better more consistent level, but we have to go and build on that again next week.”
MEET THE OFFICIALS
John Busby will be the man in the middle when Swansea City travel to The Den.
This will mark the seventh time the Berinsfield native has overseen a Swans match following his promotion to Select Group 2 ahead of the 2021-22 season. Interestingly, the first of these was also against Millwall.
REMEMBER THE LAST TIME?
Ryan Manning’s goal wasn’t enough as Swansea City suffered a narrow defeat to play-off chasing Millwall on their last visit to The Den.
Charlie Cresswell’s deflected effort opened the scoring shortly after half-time following a fairly lacklustre first 45 minutes. Andreas Voglsammer doubled the home side’s advantage seven minutes later.
The Swans responded quickly when Matt Grimes’ strike from the edge of the box was turned in by Manning to make it 2-1 but, despite pressing hard for an equaliser in the remaining thirty minutes that was how the score would remain.
PRIME NUMBERS
PRIME NUMBERS
4 – Charlie Patino scored his first goal in Swans colours last weekend. That takes his goal contributions (goals and assists) to four in six league matches.
7 – The Swans have lost just once in their past seven trips to The Den.
19 – Since the clubs’ first meeting in 1921, they’ve met 50 times. Both sides have won 19 while 12 of the meetings have ended in a draw.