Swansea suffered their maiden defeat of the 2023-24 term at the hands of West Bromwich Albion last Saturday, although the scoreline could have been much worse at the Hawthorns.
Goals from Semi Ajayi and John Swift – coupled with a Carl Rushworth own goal – had the Swans three goals behind after 65 minutes in the Black Country, however efforts from Harry Darling and Nathan Wood reduced the arrears.
With Russell Martin leaving in the off-season to join recently-relegated Southampton, Michael Duff has been tasked with guiding a capable group of players to an elusive top-six finish.
A key component to any promotion charge this term will be striker Joel Piroe, with the Dutchman netting 41 goals over the past two campaigns in the Championship since moving from PSV Eindhoven in July 2021.
The departure of Ryan Manning to link up with Martin at Southampton left the Welsh club without a senior left-back for the opening two matches of the league season, but the arrival of Nathan Tjoe-A-On from Excelsior has provided Duff with greater defensive options.
Coventry responded to back-to-back defeats against Leicester City and AFC Wimbledon by earning a convincing win over Michael Carrick’s Middlesbrough at the Coventry Building Society Arena last Saturday.
The Sky Blues have lost the goalscoring powers of Viktor Gyokeres to Sporting Lisbon this summer, but the ever-reliable Matt Godden opened the scoring against Boro – the 32-year-old will have a greater expectation on his shoulders now the towering Swede has departed.
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Haji Wright bagged his first goal for Mark Robins’s men off the bench last time out, and the American international is showing glimpses of his potential to terrorise second-tier defences in the early stages of the season.
Ellis Simms is yet to make the net ripple for Coventry since his permanent switch from Everton, but the 22-year-old will be given the time needed to adapt to life at the East Midlands club.
Having not tasted victory in their previous eight encounters with Swansea, Sky Blues supporters will not be expecting too much when they travel over the border to Wales on Saturday, although it is fair to argue that Robins’s charges are in better shape to earn three points than any of their unsuccessful predecessors
