Preview | Swansea City v West Bromwich Albion
Swansea City will seek a third home win in a row, and look to quickly bounce back from their New Year's Day disappointment at Portsmouth, when they host West Bromwich Albion this afternoon (12.30pm).
The Swans recorded victories against Queens Park Rangers and Luton Town on home turf over Christmas, but came back down to earth with a bump when they suffered a 4-0 defeat at Fratton Park.
The visitors, meanwhile, climbed into the play-off places courtesy of a 3-1 win over Preston North End on January 1.
Team news
Ben Cabango is set to miss out for the Swans after suffering a groin injury in the loss on the south coast.
But Goncalo Franco's is available after recovering from the blow to the mouth he took against Luton Town.
Joe Allen was fit enough for a place on the bench against Portsmouth, but Ollie Cooper, Sam Parker, Josh Ginnelly and Kristian Pedersen are sidelined.
Pre-match views
Luke Williams: "The performance against Portsmouth was well short of the level we want to be reaching, and it shows that clearly we have a way to go to be the team we want to be week in and week out.
"But this group of players have shown a mentality that has allowed them to respond to setbacks and we are going to need to show that again.
"We will have to be much, much better on Saturday, and we are well aware of that."
Chris Brunt: “I’m trying to do my best as part of a group leading the team, just as I did my best a player here.
"I’m trying to help as much as I can, but it’s a team effort. There are lots of staff working in the background to get players ready for games, there are a lot of tired legs at this time of year.
"It’s a tough period and everyone has pulled together.”
Meet the officials
Sam Allison is the man in the middle for this afternoon's game.
You can find out more about the former firefighter and his team of officials below.
Remember the last time?
Liam Cullen was on the scoresheet for the second game in a row to help Swansea City start 2024 with victory over West Bromwich Albion at the Swansea.com Stadium.
The forward – scorer of the late equaliser at Coventry in Swansea's previous game – was the man on the mark again as he dispatched what proved to be the winner 10 minutes into the second half as the home side beat the Baggies on home turf for the third season in a row.
Jamal Lowe and Harry Darling had been unable to convert earlier chances for the hosts, while Josh Tymon was denied by the crossbar late on.
At the other end keeper Carl Rushworth made a couple of key first-half saves when the game was still goalless to help the Swans to secure the win.
Prime numbers
5 - Swansea City have won five of their last seven meetings with West Bromwich Albion, including the last three in SA1.
10 - This game is the first of Matt Grimes' 11th year as a Swan. The captain's decade in SA1 came up on January 2. He has made 328 appearances in that time, 266 of them as skipper.