Swansea City suffer triple injury blow as Josh Ginnelly, Joe Allen and Nathan Wood ruled out
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Josh Ginnelly was Michael Duff's first Swansea signing
Swansea City have suffered a triple injury blow, with Josh Ginnelly out for the season and Joe Allen and Nathan Wood facing three months on the sidelines.
Forward Ginnelly, 26, ruptured an Achilles tendon during last Saturday's win over Sheffield Wednesday.
Midfielder Allen, 33, has had surgery on a groin problem, while defender Wood, 21, needs an ankle operation.
"It's not been a great week," said Swansea boss Michael Duff.
"Woody's going to need surgery on his ankle so we're looking at three months. Joe Allen had surgery on his groin and he's a similar time frame.
"Josh Ginnelly is out for the rest of the season. He had a total rupture of his Achilles."
Summer signing Ginnelly has just started to establish himself at Swansea and will be missed given the pace he offered to Duff's forward line.
Allen's injury is the latest in a line of fitness problems he has faced since returning to Swansea in the summer of 2022.
Though he has impressed when fit, the former Wales midfielder has been limited to 17 league starts in his second spell as a Swan and sees his contract expire at the end of this campaign.
Joe Allen is yet to start a league game under Michael Duff, though he had been in the side at Cardiff only to get injured in the warm-up
Wood is another significant loss given his success since joining Swansea from Middlesbrough in the summer of 2022.
The England Under-21 centre-back established himself as a regular under former boss Russell Martin - who tried to take him to Southampton in August - and has also been a central figure in Duff's Swansea side.
There is some good injury news for Duff ahead of Saturday's Championship trip to Millwall, with Kyle Naughton and Liam Walsh back in full training after lay-offs. Ollie Cooper is also in contention after suspension.
"Football being football, it's an opportunity for someone to come in and grab the opportunity," Duff added.
"It's not great in that it's three big players and three long-term injuries. That's why you have a squad. That's why we brought so many in during the summer.
"Joe will still have a role to play now anyway. Woody's a young player so we'll be doing a lot of individual work with him.
"Gino we've just got up to speed. He looked a threat and the change of shape helped him. But it's an opportunity for someone else to come in and take their shirt.
"It's disappointing but it's football."
Duff says Swansea will have to "find a way" to replace Ginnelly's attacking threat, with Jamal Lowe an option to switch to the flank having started as a centre-forward in the Sheffield Wednesday win.
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Allen, meanwhile, will be given "a feel for the coaching side" by Duff and his staff while he is out of action - though he is still seen as an important player.
"He knows he's not been at the levels he knows he can hit," Duff added.
"Hopefully this will put a full stop to that frustrating 18 months, get him back 100% fit and then crack on from there. We think he's a big player."