Preview | Swansea City v Reading
Swansea City will look to quickly return to winning ways when they host Reading under the Swansea.com Stadium lights tonight (7.45pm).
Russell Martin’s side had been enjoying a strong run of form that had launched them into the Championship top six, but suffered a 4-0 defeat at Burnley at the weekend to bring to an end a sequence of four wins in a row.
Despite that result, the Swans remain well-placed in the Championship table with nearly a third of the season in the books.
They have taken 16 points from the last 24 on offer at a rate of two per game, and continue to rank among the division’s form sides.
The Swans take on a Reading side one point and two places above their current placing of eighth, with the Royals having been in the upper reaches of the table through much of the campaign to date.
Team news
Swansea City will wait on the fitness of Ryan Manning as the defender seeks to recover from a hamstring injury.
Joel Piroe is suspended following his red card against Burnley, while Joe Allen and Jamie Paterson remain on the sidelines.
Liam Walsh is a long-term absentee with his Achilles injury.
Pre-match views
Matt Gill: “They have had a brilliant start, and I think most people would say they have had a brilliant start.
“I think that puts our own start in perspective because we are only a point behind them.
“It will be a tough game, they have a squad full of experienced players but we are at home and we want to performing as well as we have done of late at home.
“It will be a tough challenge and one we are looking forward to as we look to bounce back from Saturday.
“The fans have been great for us at home, we have had positive results at home where they have really helped us get over the line, including against Sunderland last time out.
“So they will be vital for us and I hope we can really give them something to get behind.”
Alex Rae (Paul Ince’s assistant): "We were bitterly disappointed to lose the game (against West Brom). I thought we did enough to get something out of it.
"We had a slow start and have to defend their first goal better. We go down at half-time and said we need more; we need to be more aggressive and get at them.
"It’s fairly evident that the second half we created some good moments but a little bit more composure and we may have capitalised. We have to give the keeper credit; he pulled some decent saves off.
"It’s a sore one to take. We have to dust ourselves down and we have another tough one Tuesday night
"That’s the Championship, if you don’t defend properly at key moments you can get punished- and you have to be clinical when opportunities arise."
Remember the last time?
Swansea City fell to just a second home defeat of the season after twice conceding within moments of scoring on Reading’s last visit to the Swansea.com Stadium.
In an entertaining encounter, the Swans had led early through Jamie Paterson’s eighth goal of the season, but almost immediately saw Reading level through Tom Dele-Bashiru.
Andy Carroll then put the visitors ahead at the break with a goal that had more than a hint of offside about it.
Swansea hit back through a superb Ryan Manning volley, but gifted the visitors the spoils when an error seconds later ended with Danny Drinkwater slotting home a rebound.
It was frustrating for Russell Martin and his side given they again dominated for long spells, and their two goals were of high quality, but their own errors ended up denying them even a share of the spoils.
Prime numbers
4.43 – Swansea City’s average tally of 4.43 shots on goal per game is the fifth-best in the Championship.
16 – There were 16 goals scored across three fixtures between the sides last term, with the Swans scoring nine of them.
34 – In 86 meetings between the sides, there have been 34 wins apiece and 18 draws.