THE OPPOSITION

Steve Cooper's Swansea City have emerged from last season's Play-Off semi-final disappointment even stronger and look certain to be involved in the end of season shake up once again.

They are currently on pace to break all defensive records in the Sky Bet Championship as we head into the second half of the campaign. Cooper's men have conceded just 13 goals in 24 league matches and already have 14 clean sheets to their name this term.

Only Huddersfield Town, Middlesbrough, and Derby County have scored more than once against them so far with The Terriers the only side to take all three points from their trip to SA1.

After a slow start at the other end of the pitch, Jamal Lowe has seven goals in his last seven Championship outings to complement the eight scored this season by Andre Ayew.

As the lowest scorers in the top seven, Swansea have dipped into the transfer market this month. Creative midfielder Conor Hourihane arrived on loan from Aston Villa as did attacker Jordan Morris from Seattle Sounders. Those additions have been needed to offset the loss of Morgan Gibbs-White, Kasey Palmer, and Viktor Gyokeres who all saw their respective loans end this month.

TEAM NEWS

We have no fresh issues with Christian Norgaard, Shandon Baptiste, and Pontus Jansson all set to miss out tonight. The positive news is that both Josh Dasilva and Ivan Toney are available after serving their respective suspensions.

Swansea have doubts over Liam Cullen and Wayne Routledge after the pair left the field injured in the 5-1 FA Cup win over Nottingham Forest at the weekend. New signing Jordan Morris could make his debut, with the head coach confirming he would be involved in some shape or form.

Steven Benda, Brandon Cooper, and Tivonge Rushesha are the long-term absentees.

THE MANAGER

Steve Cooper spent four years playing in Wales before retiring at 23 to become Wrexham's Head of Youth. A UEFA Pro Licence holder at 26, Cooper moved to Liverpool in 2008 and became Academy Manager in 2011. During his time at Melwood he worked with the likes of Raheem Sterling and Trent Alexander-Arnold.

He moved to the FA in 2013 as a youth coach educator and coached the England Under-16s in 2014, before making the step up to under-17 level the following year. He led the Young Lions to the final of the 2017 European Championship, where they lost to Spain on penalties, but they gained revenge later in the year by coming from 2-0 down to beat the same opponents 5-2 in the World Cup final. With Graeme Potter heading to Brighton in the summer of 2019, Cooper was handed his first club managerial role after six years with the FA, guiding The Swans to sixth during his first campaign.

THOMAS' THOUGHTS

PRE-MATCH VIEWS

⚖ John Brooks will be the man in charge tonight

🆚 Ian Mitchelmore from Wales Online previews The Swans

LAST TIME OUT

HOW TO FOLLOW

As this game is a re-arranged Saturday afternoon fixture, there is no VIP access for Season Ticket Holders and Premium Seat Members and the game is not on the Sky Sports red button.

The only way to give us your support for this crucial clash is with a £10 Match Pass (£7 international fans)

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