Preview | Swansea City v West Bromwich Albion
Swansea City kick off 2024 with a home assignment against West Bromwich Albion at the Swansea.com Stadium this afternoon (3pm).
The Swans return to home soil having taken eight points from six games under caretaker head coach Alan Sheehan, including a point in their final fixture of 2023 against Coventry City thanks to Liam Cullen's late free-kick.
The Baggies, meanwhile, beat Leeds on home turf last time out to boost their promotion aspirations, and they have lost just one of their last five league games.
TEAM NEWS
Sheehan will wait on the fitness of those affected by a sickness bug ahead of the Coventry game, with the interim boss revealing that Jamie Paterson, Joe Allen and Mykola Kuharevich had been among those affected.
Josh Key is facing a spell on the sidelines with a hamstring injury, while Josh Ginnelly is a longer-term absentee.
PRE-MATCH VIEWS
Alan Sheehan:
“They are a good team with a lot of Premier League and international experience, so we have to recover and make sure we give the lads the best possible chance of putting on a performance and getting a result.
“We had a good result on home turf last time out, we will have to see how some of the lads are feeling with some of the sickness we have had in the camp.
“We will see where we are at, but the players have given us so much recently and I think there is a lot to take from that.
“People want to write you off in this game all the time, and this is a challenging time of year with the quick turnaround between so many games, but the players have responded.
“But the challenge is to dust ourselves down, see where we are at and get ourselves ready to go.”
Carlos Corberan:
“In this year in the Championship, you need to send a message every single game you play. The fact that we have beaten Leeds doesn’t mean anything. All it means is that you have three points. Every win has the same value, which is three points.
“Every game you have to put a lot of work in and play with a lot of commitment. The level of the Championship demands that from you.
“That game was no more important than any other game.
“We have to recover and be ready for our next game now.”
MEET THE OFFICIALS
Andy Davies will be the man in the middle this afternoon, you can find out more about the experienced referee and his team of officials here.
REMEMBER THE LAST TIME?
Joel Piroe’s 20th goal of the season gave Swansea City a dramatic injury-time win over West Bromwich Albion when the Baggies last visited the Swansea.com Stadium.
The visitors entered the game with an outside chance of making the play-offs if they could claim three points and Blackburn Rovers and Preston North End also won, and they took the lead twice; first through Okay Yokuslu and then Semi Ajayi.
But the Swans were determined to stretch and protect their unbeaten run, and goals from Luke Cundle and Olivier Ntcham got them back on level terms in an enthralling contest.
In the end, it was a moment of magic from the Dutch striker that settled matters; Piroe curling a superb free-kick into the bottom corner with the final kick of the game to give the Swans all three points.
It ensured the Swans finished the season unbeaten in nine games, and finished 10th in the table, just three points off the play-off spots.
PRIME NUMBERS
3 - The last three games between these sides have ended in a 3-2 scoreline.
4 - Swansea City have won four of the last five meetings with the Baggies, with the sole defeat in that fixture coming in the reverse fixture earlier this term.
17 - Liam Walsh's goal against Coventry made him the 17th player to score for Swansea City in all competitions this season.