Preview | Swansea City v Preston North End
Swansea City will look to wrap up 2023 at the Swansea.com Stadium on a high when they host Preston North End tonight (7.45pm).
The Swans are looking to bounce back from the disappointment of defeat against Middlesbrough, where an improved performance went unrewarded.
They face a Lilywhites side who started the season superbly, but have endured a tougher time of late.
TEAM NEWS
A number of players got valuable minutes under their belt for the under-21s earlier this week, with Nathan Wood, Kristian Pedersen, Mykola Kuharevich, Nathan Broome and Nathanael Obgeta among those to feature.
It remains to be seen if any of them will be considered fit enough to face Preston, but their returns mean they look set to see some action over a busy festive period.
Joe Allen is also nearing a return from injury, while Josh Ginnelly is a longer-term absentee.
PRE-MATCH VIEWS
Alan Sheehan: "We need to get the fans onside and be more ruthless in the final third. That is the message.
“I liked a lot of what I saw the other day against Middlesbrough, but I just didn’t like the result.
"It’s a tough game, Preston will pose a different test again. I am expecting a difficult challenge, but we focus on ourselves. I believe we are getting there.
“There’s another gear to go and I think you saw a bit of that against Middlesbrough, now we have to try and move that on again.
“The work does not change in the building. We know what we want to do, the foundations we want to put in place and where we want to get to.
“That’s what the focus is on. How we can win this game and how we can hurt them.”
Ryan Lowe: "They’ve still got the same players. Alan, who’s gone in as the caretaker manager at this time, has been there before and worked with them.
“He’ll try and stamp his authority down on what we wants, but they’ve still got the same players. They’ve still got some technically good footballers.
“They’ll be well organised and well drilled. They probably haven’t started the way they’d have liked to, but we’ve got to worry about what we do.
"We’re expecting a tough game of course, but we’re going to go there full of energy and desire to make sure we get a result.”
REMEMBER THE LAST TIME?
Goals from Joel Piroe (2), Joe Allen, and Harry Darling secured Swansea City’s fifth win in six matches as they beat Preston North End in a dramatic contest at the Swansea.com Stadium.
Piroe opened the scoring inside two minutes, and Allen added a second shortly after the half-hour mark before Darling headed in a third just before the break.
Promotion-chasing Preston came out quickly in the second half. Tom Cannon got one back shortly after the break and Troy Parrott made it 3-2 with 20 minutes remaining.
An incident on the touchline which saw Allen – who had been substituted by this stage – and visiting manager Ryan Lowe sent off led to eight minutes of added time, and while the visitors continued to threaten, Piroe was able to seal the points with a cool finish beyond visiting keeper Freddie Woodman in the 96th minute.
MEET THE OFFICIALS
Bobby Madley is the man in the middle for tonight's game, and you can find out more about the experienced referee and his team of officials here.
PRIME NUMBERS
3 - Swansea have only failed to find the net in three of the 24 fixtures they have played in all competitions this season.
9 - Swansea City have won nine of their last 10 home meetings with Preston North End, with that sequence beginning in 1993.