Swansea City will aim to keep their good run going at Deepdale this evening in a Sky Bet Championship fixture that if the swans win will keep them in the top six in the championship. That’s far easier said than done after a hard fought and below par draw at Ashton Gate against Bristol City on Saturday.
Joel Piroe is back from his three game suspension from the last time the swans were in Lancashire and Ryan Manning will be looking for a starting slot as well. Assistant coach Matt Gill has highlighted the issues from Saturday. "It is a really important period and we want to go into the break in as strong a position as possible. We have to continue the performance levels, and if we do that we will get the outcome we deserve if the performances are right. We felt on Saturday we fell below where we have been in that early part of the game, and we need to get back to those levels and we need to continue to be prepared to be ourselves home and away”
There was indeed a lethargy ( or over confidence ) which led to poor passing and an unsatisfactory two thirds of the game on the weekend, it was only with the introduction of Armstrong Oko-Flex and Olivier Ntcham that things looked far better. Their introduction to the game ensured a point for the swans. With returning players there is a selection headache for swans boss Russell Martin. Gill also seems concerned about Swansea playing four games in two weeks. "This period is a tough one, but we need to keep approaching every game the same this season. I can’t recall any period quite like this as a player. I don’t think I could have coped with this during my time playing ! The intensity the lads have shown has been tremendous and when that dips a little bit from what we want, we know how important it is to maybe use the squad and freshen things up. It’s four games in less than two weeks and we need the right intensity and if a change of personnel is needed then the gaffer will do that” Not sure we sympathise with Matt there, it’s how it is, the swans need to just get on with it and play for our clubs shirt.
Joel Piroe is fit and available for tonight
Swans fans will hope that includes Oko-Flex, training patterns are showing him more involved and it could be one plan is to start him tonight at Deepdale. He is yet to complete a full game for Swansea City.
Read our report on Armstrong here –> Oko-Flex profile
Games between the sides are often hard to predict with the swans winning twenty seven and Preston twenty two with eighteen drawn. This season the lillywhites have scored only thirteen goals but only conceded fifteen, goalkeeper Freddie Woodman kept seven clean sheets in a row at the start of the season eventually letting one in on game eight against Birmingham City. An incredible feat.
Joel Piroe update
Russell Martin has seen a marked improvement in Joel Piroe since he was suspended. : "He's got a bit of a spark back. With Joel, it's been relentless for him, coming over and playing a whole season in the Championship and to carry on playing every game this season," said the Swans boss He's been so frustrated with himself, he's got such high standards because he judges himself on goals, but he brings us so much more than that. We're trying to remind him of that. I think he'll ready and benefit from this break. He had a couple of days of down time after the red card. I do think we'll get a big reaction from him when he comes back.
PNE update
On the other bench Preston manager Ryan Lowe is again looking at undermining the swans with his game plan, something he has done before. "They scored late on to get a point against Bristol City which is a tough place to go. Russell Martin is playing a good brand of football, it's really coming into fruition for them now. They've got some good players but so do we. We'll pay them massive respect, because you have to, you have to make sure you're at full tilt or you'll be beaten. We'll put a game plan together for Swansea knowing it'll be a tough fixture.”
Ryan Lowe has injury issues with his squad
Twenty year old Republic of Ireland international Troy Parrot is out and the Spurs loanee will be disappointed after injuring him self during a goal celebration two weeks ago in the lillywhites 3-2 win over Norwich City. "He’s had his scans and whatnot,” said PNE boss Ryan Lowe. "It’s not as bad as we first thought, but we’re obviously in dialogue with Tottenham Hotspur as well now because he’s their player, so Jacko [Matt Jackson] is on with them. I think the World Cup’s come at a good time for Troy because he will miss a large part, but the fact of the matter is we’ve got that break. We won’t have him for the foreseeable future, but after the World Cup when we’re back in action, hopefully he’s back fit and ready, so it’ll give us enough time not to rush”
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More later.