Sheehan's Swansea looking to lighten the mood

Swansea are 16th in the Championship, one place higher than they were when Alan Sheehan replaced Luke Williams in February

Swansea City host Norwich City on Saturday with Alan Sheehan in unfamiliar territory.

For the first time in his brief managerial career, the Irishman could do with a victory to lighten the mood.

Sheehan has not previously had to deal with a difficult spell as Swansea head coach, having delivered results as caretaker boss for seven games in 2023-24 and then again when he took the reins following Luke Williams' departure in February.

This campaign began in decent fashion too, with Swansea sitting seventh in the early-season table after victory at Sheffield Wednesday in late August made it seven points from the first four Championship games of 2025-26.

Since then, however, Swansea have stumbled.

Wednesday's home defeat by Queens Park Rangers means it is now only one win in seven league games for the Welsh side, who have slipped to 16th having banked only six points from the past 21 on offer.

So how will Sheehan cope with this first sticky patch, and how will he go about guiding his team through it?

"Yeah that's a good question," he said.

Defeat by QPR means Swansea are without a home league win in five matches, their longest sequence since 2023

"The first sticky patch… I think if there were things in the game, if I was seeing nothing that I wanted to see, I think that would be an issue.

"But you look at players giving you absolutely everything to the final whistle [against QPR].

"Maybe quality at times is letting us down, but I'd be more worried if players weren't giving everything really consistently like these lads are."

Swansea's upturn under Sheehan last season was spectacular, with a team who were looking nervously towards the relegation places banking 24 points from their final 13 games to finish 11th.

The momentum Sheehan's team built combined with ambition in the boardroom – as reflected by a transfer window in which Swansea spent more than they have in years – meant expectations for this season shifted.

Sheehan has acknowledged as much, setting an improvement on last season as the minimum target and spelling out a desire to reach the Premier League in the not too distant future.

These are early days, and it should be noted that a couple of positive results would send Swansea rocketing up the table and quickly change the feeling around the club.

But current form is dispiriting, with the failure to win a home league game since the opening week of the season not helping the atmosphere in the stands.

'It's a group we are gelling'

Swansea's chances against QPR were not helped by the sending off of Malick Yalcouye but, even before his 34th-minute exit, the Hoops had been the better side.

Swansea's 10 men kept plugging away, though they were lucky not to be out of the contest by the time Zan Vipotnik came close to an equaliser in added time.

Sheehan's men had been fortunate to come away from Southampton with a point last weekend, while they were ultimately well beaten by Leicester City at the start of October despite giving the Foxes a game.

With tricky trips to Charlton Athletic and Preston North End on the horizon – as well as the Manchester City Carabao Cup tie next Wednesday – a win against Norwich would be timely.

There is little time to work on the training ground, with Sheehan pledging to "debrief and look where we can get better" as Swansea prepare for the Canaries.

"I think you need to score your chances and you need to defend your box properly – and everything in between that needs to be quite solid as well," he added.

"I think it was 11 different nationalities starting [against QPR]. They're an honest group, they're a group that we are gelling.

"We are looking to get that Championship formula, to find that solidity in how we do things and of course create more chances and become that free-flowing team."

While there have been defensive issues in recent matches, it is Swansea's attacking efforts which have been most heavily criticised of late.

Only three second-tier sides have scored fewer league goals than Swansea this season, and they all lie in the bottom four heading into the weekend.

Sheehan suggested the team he picked against QPR was "an attacking line-up", but it will be interesting to see if he goes a little bolder – by starting Liam Cullen or Melker Widell, for example – in pursuit of victory this weekend.

"This is my first time in this place in terms of not winning consistently," Sheehan said.

"I think it's been 30-something games and we're used to winning and definitely not losing.

"QPR was obviously disappointing even though I'm proud of how we did with 10 men, but we have to get to a place where we are aggressive in what we do and come out on the right side of the margins."