South Wales derby: Can Cardiff deny Swansea double glory?
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A repeat or redemption? Cardiff and Swansea prepare for Sunday's south Wales derby
The fixture is 108 years old and yet there is south Wales derby history to be made this weekend.
Having beaten Cardiff City once already this season, Swansea City will go in search of a repeat result when they make the short trip east on Sunday.
Should they triumph once more, Swansea will be celebrating south Wales' first derby double.
"That's definitely our target," says Swansea defender Ben Wilmot, scorer of the only goal when Cardiff went to the Liberty Stadium in October. "We are desperate to make history."
The prospect of a Swansea double is not something Cardiff's players wish to contemplate.
"Of course we don't want that," says goalkeeper Neil Etheridge, "and we don't expect them to hold that over us."
Cardiff were formed in 1899, but the first south Wales derby came when Swansea were established 13 years later.
Swansea hosted Cardiff in their very first competitive fixture, a 1-1 draw in the second tier of the Southern League.
In all the two clubs have been in the same division in 31 seasons including 2019-20.
Yet remarkably, not one of those campaigns has seen either Cardiff or Swansea win both league encounters with the neighbours.
It is Steve Cooper's team who have the chance to change that courtesy of Wilmot's winner, which gave Swansea deserved victory in a game they largely controlled.
"To come off the field losing in the way we did obviously was upsetting for myself, the management, the club - everyone involved," says Etheridge.
"The derby is a massive deal to everyone. We have to put things right at our place."
Wilmot, 20, made his first Swansea league start against Cardiff having joined on loan from Watford in the summer.
Ben Wilmot (L) celebrates with George Byers after scoring the first senior goal of his career in Swansea City's win over Cardiff City in October
He had never scored a senior goal until he guided Wayne Routledge's cross beyond a helpless Etheridge.
"I was just buzzing to be playing," Wilmot says.
"To score my first goal - of course I wanted it to happen, but I never thought it would."
From that moment on, Wilmot's status in south west Wales changed.
"I don't think many people knew who I was beforehand - going to the shops or whatever was just normal," he adds.
"But now you get people coming up and saying well done, thanks for scoring against them and stuff like that.
"It can be anything from being in Sainsbury's or out for a meal, random places where you don't expect it. You still feel like a normal person so I am not expecting it. It's nice."
The hope for Cardiff boss Neil Harris, who is set for a first taste of this local argument, will be that one of his players is the hero this time around.
Cardiff goalkeeper Neil Etheridge is among a host of players on both sides who got a first taste of the south Wales derby in October
Then Bluebirds boss Neil Warnock claimed October's derby had been "there to be won" as he bemoaned a lacklustre Cardiff display.
Harris will surely demand that his team do more to knock Swansea out of their stride.
"It hurts to lose any game but to lose a derby of that magnitude is a massive downer," says Etheridge.
"I think sometimes people assume that players don't care but we do.
"It's a massive thing for any player to play in a derby and especially one of that size.
"We felt the weight on our shoulders about it. For the next couple of days the boys in the dressing room weren't the same."
Etheridge is a Philippines international who grew up in the south of England, while England Under-21 cap Wilmot hails from Stevenage.
A handful of Welsh players could be involved on Sunday, including Cardiff's Swansea-born defender Jazz Richards and Ben Cabango, the teenage Swans centre-back who grew up in the capital.
Ben Cabango was raised in Cardiff but joined Swansea City as a youngster having had a spell with Newport County
The truth is that wherever in the world they are from - and whether they have a swan or bluebird on their chest - players quickly become aware of this fixture's significance.
"It's a proper old school rivalry," Wilmot says.
"I was aware of it (before joining Swansea) but I didn't realise the magnitude of it.
"There is a lot riding on this one for both teams. I think it will be a feisty game, like it should be."
There may be a little more pressure on Cardiff in this particular derby because Swansea have that win on the board.
According to Etheridge, however, Harris' players are relishing the chance to make amends having suffered after the reverse fixture.
"Supporters made their views clear (as) to how they felt," Etheridge says.
"As players we need to understand to a certain degree how they feel.
"None of the players go out to lose a game - sometimes it happens for you, sometimes it doesn't.
"But we are looking forward to this game. I am sure there will be even more of a fighting spirit than in the last one."
Neil Harris faces a first south Wales derby this weekend having taken over as Cardiff City manager in November
The history books say Cardiff will not lose, while their home record this season - just one defeat in 12 Championship games - is outstanding.
But they must surely be better than they were in the last derby if they are to see off a Swansea side who are usually hard to beat on the road.
"It's one of those games where you sort of sacrifice the performance for three points because it means so much to everybody in the city as well as the club," reckons Wilmot.
He will not get any arguments there - on either side of the divide.
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All pictures via Getty Images.