Swansea City

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Alan Sheehan says Swansea City will "wait and see" whether Ben Cabango can feature in their Championship opener at Middlesbrough on Saturday.

Club captain Cabango's pre-season has been badly disrupted by a calf injury picked up during Swansea's training camp in Spain.

But the 25-year-old centre-back has taken some part in training this week, which is a welcome boost given Swansea's shortage of options.

Fellow defender Ricardo Santos is sidelined by a knee injury suffered in the friendly at Cheltenham, while promising youngster Filip Lissah has an ankle issue.

That leaves Cameron Burgess and fellow summer signing Kaelan Casey, who only arrived on loan from West Ham on Wednesday, as Sheehan's fully fit central defensive options on the eve of the new season.

Swansea are also monitoring the fitness of winger Zeidane Inoussa, another of their summer recruits, as he recovers from a stress fracture suffered at former club Hacken.

Sheehan said Eom Jisung is "not 100%" going into Boro because of a pre-season ankle problem, while striker Zan Vipotnik has missed training because of a toe injury.

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Ben Lloyd has been challenged to be Newport County's star man after joining on loan from Swansea City.

The 20-year-old midfielder will spend the season with the Exiles and has already made two starts.

Lloyd has made just a pair of brief appearances off the bench for Championship side Swansea, but he will now try to follow in the footsteps of Ollie Cooper and Brandon Cooper by heading east to impress in Newport with the League Two side.

"He can learn a lot," said Swansea head coach Alan Sheehan. "He's got to go there with the mentality of being the best player.

"Yes, he is from a Championship club but he's got to go down there and be the best player, on and off the pitch.

"He's got to be a role model, be a good example, show the work ethic and the grit to be a professional footballer and prove himself at that level.

"After that you move onto the next level and that's the goal for a lot of young players here."

Meanwhile, Newport midfielder Riley Lonergan has joined Cardiff Met on loan.

The teenager, who signed a first professional contract in the summer, will get a taste of senior men's football in the Cymru Premier until 12 January.

Lonergan is yet to make his Newport first-team debut after being an unused substitute in the League Two game at Fleetwood Town in the penultimate game of last season.

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Swansea City hope to seal at least one more signing before Saturday's Championship opener at Middlesbrough.

The Swans have so far added Cameron Burgess, Ricardo Santos, Ethan Galbraith, Zeidane Inoussa and Bobby Wales while Melker Widell is with them after being loaned back to Aalborg BK after signing in January.

However, Swansea's options are limited at centre-back and they are in the market for a striker.

Asked if a new signing was on the cards ahead of the trip to Middlesbrough, head coach Alan Sheehan replied: "All going well, yeah.

"We are in talks with players, but we are not going to just sign anyone, it's got to be the right fit for the football club in order to make us better.

"We've made good quality signings and maybe will make a couple more before the end of the window."

Swansea's squad remains thin after a long summer leavers list that included Harry Darling, Kyle Naughton, Joe Allen and Lewis O'Brien.

"There has been a lot of change, we have done good business, but we will also need to bring in more," said Sheehan.

"There's a recruitment strategy with Adam Worth onto us daily. We are as a football club quite active to bring in more players."

Swansea have been linked with Wycombe striker Richard Kone, who was left out of their squad for the League One opener at Bradford.

"There is a lot of noise about that, but it's not something I would comment on," said Sheehan.

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Swansea City were beaten 3-1 by French side Lorient in their final friendly ahead of the Championship season.

Alan Sheehan's side were downed at Swansea.com Stadium and were without the injured Ben Cabango, Filip Lissah, Ricardo Santos and Zan Vipotnik in their last tune-up for next Saturday's trip to Middlesbrough (15:00 BST).

The Ligue 1 side were in charge from the off and finally got their noses in front through Pablo Pagis' calm finish in the 23rd minute after Cameron Burgess had given the ball away.

Melker Widell should have swiftly levelled but scuffed his shot from close range and it was 2-0 on the half hour when Pagis scored from Gedeon Kalulu's pass, with Josh Key potentially having the final touch with an attempted tackle.

The third came from the spot through Mohamed Bamba in the 42nd minute after Igor Silva was brought down by teenager Arthur Parker.

Ronald should have made it 3-1 after 53 minutes but was denied in a one-on-one with goalkeeper Benjamin Leroy, then Lawrence Vigouroux did likewise at the other end against Pagis.

Liam Cullen got Swansea off the mark with a penalty in the 64th minute after Ronald had been fouled and then the Wales forward had a header chalked off for offside.

Swansea City have made a £4.5m bid for Wycombe striker Richard Kone with Ipswich Town, Norwich City, Leicester City and Middlesbrough also reportedly interested. (The 72), external

Want more transfer news from the EFL? Take a look at Thursday's gossip column here.

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Swansea City centre-back Ricardo Santos will miss the beginning of the 2025-26 season because of a knee injury.

Santos, who joined the Swans from Bolton Wanderers earlier this summer, landed awkwardly during his side's pre-season loss to Cheltenham Town in midweek.

"We are without three centre-halves and two wingers at the moment," said Swansea City manager Alan Sheehan.

"Anyone who was at the Cheltenham game will know about Ricardo. He had a shocking landing, and he will be out for a while now as he hyperextended his leg."

Like Santos, club captain Ben Cabango, Filip Lissah, Jisung Eom and Zeidane Inoussa all missed Swansea's 1-0 pre-season defeat by Exeter City on Saturday.

"Ben Cabango is incredibly important to us, and we are going to get him scanned again as he has a little something in his calf which we need to look further into," added Sheehan.

"Filip Lissah turned his ankle, the same as we had with Jisung, and Inoussa was left out as a precaution."

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Swansea City were narrowly beaten 1-0 by Exeter City in the penultimate fixture of their pre-season schedule.

Cameron Congreve had an early goal ruled out for offside at St James Park.

The hosts went ahead two minutes after the restart as Ilmari Niskanen charged up the left flank before crossing to Sonny Cox who netted the game's only goal.

Summer signing Cameron Burgess headed home from a corner soon after, although his effort was disallowed for a foul in the build-up.

Zan Vipotnik looked to have earned Swansea a draw as he rifled an effort in off the crossbar late on, although the frustration continued as it was ruled out for offside to ensure the visitors were beaten by the League One outfit.

Alan Sheehan's side round of their summer schedule against Ligue 2 side Lorient at the Swansea.com Stadium on Saturday, 2 August (15:00 BST).

The Swans open up their 2025-26 Championship campaign against Middlesbrough at the Riverside Stadium a week later.

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Swansea City have unveiled their away strip and goalkeeper kits for the 2025-26 season.

The Championship club describe the away kit as being fig-coloured with green and pink trim, while it features a retro crest which is an adaptation of a badge which featured on match programmes during the mid-1960s.

It is also similar to crests which featured on shirts at times during the 1970s and 1980s.

Alan Sheehan's players will wear the new strip for the first time in Saturday's friendly at Exeter City.

One of the goalkeeper kits is yellow, with the other part pink azalea and part magenta, the club say.

Image source, Swansea City AFC