Preview | Swansea City v Bristol City
Swansea City host Bristol City this afternoon in their final match before the March international break (12.30pm kick-off).
It will be the fourth time the two sides have met this season after being drawn together in the FA Cup. All three previous matches have ended 1-1 after 90 minutes.
The Robins are in a solid run of form picking up nine points from their past six games. They now sit 13th and five points ahead of the Swans.
Russell Martin’s side are looking to turn positive recent performances into points with the Swans boss admitting his side need a win to return some confidence and positivity.
Team news
Ollie Cooper is back in training and set for a return to action on Sunday after missing Tuesday's clash with Millwall due to a knock sustained last weekend.
Joe Allen and Steven Benda remain side lined with injury, but Russell Martin confirmed that Allen is progressing well and could return after the international break.
Pre-match views
Russell Martin: “The games against Bristol City this season have been good games – they’ve been really tight games.
“There were three draws over 90 minutes and they’ve stuck with a formation which has worked really well for them.
“But they had a result in midweek they wouldn’t have wanted so they’ll be desperate to bounce back.”
Nigel Pearson:
"We gave ourselves too many problems from the start against Luton Town. We didn't start well. Too many players out of sorts who made too many poor errors.
"Against a side like that who put us under pressure, to concede so early it looked as though it could have been a tough night.
"We had to change our shape to try and make a different impact on the game and I think that worked pretty well to a large extent. But you can't give your opponents the impetus to try and drive forward straight from the outset. We made too many poor errors ourselves."
Remember the last time?
Second-half goals from Michael Obafemi, Cyrus Christie and Joel Piroe saw Swansea City come from behind to complete a league double over Bristol City on the Robins’ last league visit to the Swansea.com Stadium.
Russell Martin’s side had trailed at the break to Andreas Weimann’s strike, but they showed great character to battle their way back into the game and claim three points that moved them above the visitors in the league table.
Obafemi showed great anticipation to finish from close range early in the second half before Christie bundled in his first goal for the Swans, and his first anywhere since June 2020, to put them ahead.
And Piroe sealed the win in stoppage time as he calmly fired a low strike into the bottom corner for his 14th goal of the season.
Prime numbers
8 – Matt Grimes recorded his eighth assist of the season on Tuesday evening marking his best return for assists in a single season since joining the club. His personal best tally was recorded during his loan spell at Northampton Town in the 2017-18 season.
10 – Ryan Manning’s goal in Tuesday evening’s defeat to Millwall took him to double figures for goal involvements this term (4 goals and 6 assists).