Swansea City have set out on their second long distance away trip in two weekends, this time to Norwich for todays clash between the Swans and Canaries (3pm) Over the last ten meetings between the clubs Swansea City have won five times, Norwich the same.
Harry Darling has joined the conversation late, he is seemingly determined to finish off the season with two wins. "We don’t want to let the season fizzle out, it would be far too easy for us to allow that to happen. The gaffer is on to us constantly and, as a group, we want to finish the season strong because it’s important to have momentum to carry into next season. We will play the last two in the same manner as we have the last few games. We want to try and get two more wins to round things off.”
You would expect that, but we are still at times unsure as to which Swansea City will show up. Recent performances have seen an improvement, and the taste of that pudding will come later for sure. We’ve already covered Sam Parker and Liam Cullen this week, the latter having his contract extended by the club taking up a one year option. The former wanting more than he was offered by the Swans last week, which the club rightly refused, and his willingness to negotiate backfiring thereafter. We have covered both of these stories this week on the Indy.
Click ⚽️ Liam Cullen
Click ⚽️ Sam Parker
Last season during that remarkable late run by the Swans under Russell Martin, Olivier Ntcham scored in a 3-0 win for the visitors. It was a game Swansea dominated and there was quite a bit of frustration regards the stand off football the Swans employed. Ntcham (below) clearly lost his temper with the pace of the game, took up the ball in midfield and drove straight at the Norwich defence scoring a very decent goal. Oh for that today.
Luke Williams has indicated there is nothing to report on the injury front, which means that there will be a sneaky surprise later. Joe Allen, Kyle Naughton, Sam Parker and Josh Ginnelly are all out. Przemysław Płacheta is desperate to prove his fitness and earn a contract this summer, however he is doubtful. Maybe that’s the surprise !
On Norwich City, Luke admitted, "I have a lot of ties there, and it’s a brilliant football club and it will be nice to go back there. On my twelfth birthday I signed for Norwich as a schoolboy, and I was there for four years. It was an incredible club, really ahead of its time in those days. I think they finished second in the Premier League (sic), and Jeremy Goss scored an incredible volley against Bayern Munich, I still remember. On his side he said this week, "But, as I have said, it’s about being able to bring that on a more consistent basis. We are showing signs of starting to do that but there is still a lot for us to work on and improve on. We know the importance of making sure we round the season off properly, so that has to be the focus. There’s can’t be any let-up, we have to keep going and pressing on."
The head coach has made remarks on other matters regarding Parker and Cullen, but they do nothing more to add to what we have already reported this week.
Norwich boss David Wagner needs his side to win and Hull City to lose today to confirm a play off spot. However, it’s his senior personnel he is delighted with, especially Kenny McLean. "He has been in this football club quite a while. Maybe he improved. I can only judge from the time I've been here with him, but what I can say is that he's an outstanding athlete, a top trainer, and super competitive. He is very emotional, and one of his big improvements since we worked together is that he controlled his emotions better. He doesn't get out of the game for ten or fifteen minutes anymore. He is one of, if not the, most reliable players we have. He is a good person as well." Possibly having a dig there at some Norwich supporters he said, "Nobody should forget that he played games as a left-footed centre-back when we got a lot of criticism at the beginning about why we chose him when we had alternatives, but he did outstanding in this position and got nominated for the player of the month in the Championship in this position”
A very healthy number of Swansea City fans will be at the game today, some setting off yesterday for the last away fixture of the season. A 425 mile round trip last weekend to Huddersfield for home based fans, and today a 620 mile round trip. That’s over 1,000 miles travelled for two games. Hopefully the Swans fans will earn the appreciation they deserve for their magnificent support.
Next week the final fixture of the season is at home to Millwall.
Team news follows.