The Swans start their FA Cup campaign this afternoon with an all Premier League clash with fellow relegation candidates Hull City this afternoon with what may well be an unlikely line up given what has become the norm for this stage of the competition.

Paul Clement has been in charge of the team for four days and is fully expected to name a very strong line up this afternoon as he wants to ensure continuity, consistency and also the chance to see what his players can do ahead of what will be more important league encounters to come.

Ironically, our opponents are also under the control of a new manager and could do similar although I would suggest that optimism is slightly higher in the Swans camp than he Hull one after their new boss declared yesterday that they needed a "miracle" to stay in this division.

If you go back 10-12 years in our history then third round day was widely anticipated amongst fans - that is if we got that far - but right now it feels like a distraction that we could do without although in fairness the timing is good as it effectively gives Clement a free game to assess what the squad is capable of.

By this time next week it is widely expected that there could be a couple of new additions to that squad as well but that does not mean that today will not see a familiar looking Swansea side lining up against Hull.

Hull City striker Abel Hernandez has overcome groin strain and could start but defenders Curtis Davies (hamstring) and Harry Maguire (hip) will be absent.

Ahmed Elmohamady (Egypt) and Dieumerci Mbokani (DR Congo) are on African Cup of Nations duty.

New Swansea boss Paul Clement may start Leroy Fer, Modou Barrow, Nathan Dyer and Borja Baston.

Jordi Amat is back after suspension but Jefferson Montero remains sidelined (hamstring).

If I was perfectly honest when we arrived in this division back in 2011, the FA Cup was something that I wanted us to succeed heavily in. We have never really had a run in my lifetime that has taken us somewhere we I believed we could reach the final and whilst I accept that this time around staying in the Premier League is the most important thing, a Wembley date in May would be an experience never to forget as well.

Swans fans are clearly confident that we will produce the win if our Twitter poll is anything to go by with 74% of the 299 people that votes predicting a Swans win

Action Images

Swansea City Polls