Preview | Swansea City v Plymouth Argyle
Swansea City host Plymouth Argyle this afternoon on our dedicated Maggie’s Matchday. (3pm kick-off).
The Swans are looking for a return to winning ways on home turf, while the Pilgrims – who sit one place above the Swans in the league table – are going in search of their first win on the road this season.
TEAM NEWS
Harry Darling is set to miss this afternoon’s clash after picking up a quad injury in the midweek defeat to Leicester City.
Josh Key, Liam Walsh, Josh Ginnelly, Sam Parker and Azeem Abdulai also remain unavailable, however, deadline day signings Charles Sagoe Jr and Przemyslaw Placheta are in contention to be involved.
PRE-MATCH VIEWS
Luke Williams: "There aren’t easy games in the Championship. It’s a tough game. We’re trying to win a game of football, improve our performances and learn what we can and can’t do.
"There’s been positive signs. The results haven’t been the ones we’d want, but there have been elements of performances which have been encouraging.
"It’s a tough game, but we’re optimistic."
Ian Foster: “It's not been easy to really assess Swansea given the variance in games that they've had. They've had some really tough and challenging games of late where they've flitted between formations, which doesn't help when you're trying to watch them.
“We know the players. The manager (Luke Williams) has got excellent pedigree in terms of how he sets his teams up and plays. We know that it's a difficult place to go. Saturday will be a really challenging game, with both teams desperate to get all three points.”
MEET THE OFFICIALS
Sam Allison will be the man in charge this afternoon. It will be the third time the former firefighter has taken charge of a Swans match, but will mark his first visit to SA1.
He will be assisted by Mark Pottage and Richard Wild. Ben Atkinson is set to be fourth official.
REMEMBER THE LAST TIME?
A Jamal Lowe goal and a quickfire hat-trick from Morgan Whittaker saw Swansea City beat today’s opponents Plymouth Argyle to reach the third round of the Carabao Cup on the Pilgrims last visit to SA1.
The Swans took the lead when midfielder Dan Williams saw his low, deflected shot find the net via a touch from Lowe in the 29th minute, but they were pegged back after the break as Rhys Shirley finished from close range.
However, the hosts avoided the nerves of a penalty shootout as Whittaker took aim from distance to find the net with a left-footed strike, before finishing off a sweeping counter sparked by Lowe, and then steered in another in stoppage time.
The trio of goals had come in the space of just 11 minutes and the now Plymouth-man became the first Swansea player to score a hat-trick for the club since Scott Sinclair in the play-off final at Wembley in 2011.
PRIME NUMBERS
6 – Plymouth are an infrequent opponent in recent years for the Swans. The sides have met just six times since 2002.
18 – Joe Allen scored his first goal of the season in midweek, taking the total number of players to score for the Swans this term to 18.
21.88 – New signing Przemysław Płacheta was once recorded running at a speed of 21.88mph in training at one of his former clubs.