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After losing the Championship playoff final last season, Huddersfield have found it difficult to get themselves going again, particularly with former manager Carlos Corberan opting to leave the club.
The Terriers have made a very poor start to the season, averaging less than a point a game at this stage and currently four points from 21st-placed Blackpool.
However, after arriving at the club at the end of September, manager Mark Rotheringham has overseen a turnaround of sorts in recent times, notching two wins in his last four league outings.
A 1-0 win against playoff-chasing Millwall will have highlighted to Swansea the problems that Huddersfield can cause opponents at the other end of the league table, and this was then underlined by a 2-1 away victory against sixth-placed Queens Park Rangers on Tuesday night.
Lyndon Dykes opened the scoring for their opponents after just two minutes, but a first-half brace from Josh Ruffels, his first two goals of the season, proved to be enough for the Terriers to come away with all three points, a win that should give them confidence going into Saturday’s game.
Huddersfield are set to be without a number of important players for Saturday’s clash, due to a whole host of different issues.
Long-term absentee Yuta Nakayama is set to be out for the season with an Achilles injury, so he will be missing from the Terriers’ defence, as will Matty Pearson, who is out until December with a foot injury.
Also in the backline, Tom Lees has been suffering with COVID-19 and is unlikely to make a recovery ahead of this weekend’s fixture, so William Boyle may accompany Michal Helik.
Swansea are more blessed in terms of the number of players they have to choose from, with Joe Allen and Liam Walsh the only members of the squad on the treatment table.
Olivier Ntcham has been a key player for Martin’s side this season, weighing in with five goals from midfield, including one in his last game, and he may start in an advanced role alongside Luke Cundle, supporting striker Joel Piroe, who also has five goals to his name.
Huddersfield Town possible starting lineup:
Nicholls; Spencer, Boyle, Helik, Ruffels; Holmes, Diarra, Thomas, Rudoni, Jackson; Ward
Swansea City possible starting lineup:
Benda; Wood, Darling, Cabango; Latibeaudiere, Fulton, Grimes, Manning; Cundle, Ntcham, Piroe
PREVIEW | HUDDERSFIELD TOWN V SWANSEA CITY
First team
Swansea City travel to the John Smith’s Stadium to face Huddersfield Town this afternoon in their final match ahead of the World Cup (3pm kick-off).
Russell Martin’s side will be looking to learn the lessons from frustrating draws with Wigan Athletic and Birmingham City and end this period of games on a high before the four-week break.
The Terriers sit bottom of the table, but they recorded an impressive away victory over high-flying Queens Park Rangers in midweek; a result which head coach Mark Fotheringham believes can be a turning point in Huddersfield’s season.
The hosts will be hoping to build on that performance but the visitors will be determined to finish what has been a productive period since the last international break on a high.
Team news
Russell Martin has no fresh injury concerns ahead of this match and has the same squad to choose from as the midweek fixture in Birmingham.
Joe Allen’s focus remains on being ready for Wales’ World Cup campaign in Qatar, while Liam Walsh is a long-term absentee.
Pre-match views
Russell Martin: “It’s been a great run for us and it takes some doing because the schedule has been relentless.
“I think every manager in the league will be saying they want to finish this period off and go into the long break with some positivity and a good performance.
“Of course we want a good performance, and hopefully if we do that the result will reflect the performance. If we continue to perform how we have, we’ll be happy.
“If we can match the level of intensity we’ve shown in this run, we’ll be more than happy and a positive result would put us in a nice position in the league table ahead of the break.
“We need to make sure the players know what to expect, but if we keep performing the way we are, we believe we can cause them problems.”
Mark Fotheringham: “I just feel that that performance [against QPR] is going to change the whole season.
“It’s going to pick the spirits up for our amazing fans, I know they’re going to get behind us so much at the weekend and I know that the guys will be up for this game, and I know they’ll want to finish well going into the World Cup break.”
Remember the last time?
Flynn Downes’ scored his first Swansea City goal to cap off a superb second-half performance as the Swans earned a point at high-flying Huddersfield Town on their last visit to the John Smith’s Stadium in January.
The Swans had trailed at the interval as Danel Sinani profited from defensive hesitation to convert a rebound from close range.
But the visitors controlled the second half against a Terriers side unbeaten in their previous seven games, and they got their reward when Downes finished a smart move with a calm finish.
It was no less than Russell Martin’s side deserved, and they could have left with all three points with Ryan Manning, Olivier Ntcham and Matt Grimes all going close.
Ben Hamer also played his part, making three magnificent saves against his former club.
Prime Numbers
7 – Olivier Ntcham has more goal contributions than anyone else in a Swansea City shirt this season. His fine finish against Birmingham City in midweek took him level with Joel Piroe on five goals, but the Cameroon international has also chipped in with two assists.
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42 – Sticking with Ntcham’s impressive form in the goalscoring stakes, his five goals have come from just 12 shots leaving him with a remarkable 42% goal conversion rate. This is the highest percentage of anyone in the league who has scored five goals or more.
58 – This fixture has been played 58 times since the two teams first met in 1952. Huddersfield hold the advantage in the overall head-to-head having won 25 of the contests. The Swans recent record in west Yorkshire has been better with the visitors losing just once since there since 2007.