Swansea City

Gareth Vincent
BBC Sport Wales

Image source, Getty Images

A little over a month ago, Zan Vipotnik's future as a Swansea City player was in considerable doubt.

Swansea spent the summer chasing a new centre-forward, eventually getting their man when Adam Idah signed from Celtic on transfer deadline day.

Heading into the final weeks of the window, there was interest from Europe in Vipotnik and there was a realistic possibility that the Slovenian international would be moved on.

Yet Vipotnik's sharp form in August – which has continued throughout September – convinced Swansea that he could not be allowed to leave.

If the 23-year-old can maintain the standards set in the early stages of the season across the course of 2025-26, Swansea's decision not to sell may prove the most significant of all the club's recent transfer calls.

Vipotnik, after all, looks a player transformed. He is scoring goals and, not only that, is offering the sort of presence Swansea have craved up front for some time.

As a result, Idah has been a restricted to substitute appearances in the Championship so far, the Republic of Ireland international watching on like everyone else as Vipotnik has delivered for Alan Sheehan.

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Vipotnik's stylish finish against Millwall on Saturday means he has six goals in nine Swansea appearances – only six of which have been starts – in all competitions so far this season.

Last year, having signed from Bordeaux on the eve of the campaign, he managed a total of seven goals in 44 Swansea appearances, including 26 starts.

The contrast in Vipotnik's contribution is stark – and his figures for this campaign might easily have been even more impressive.

He had what looked a perfectly good goal chalked off for offside at Birmingham City nine days ago, after all, and was contentiously denied a penalty – which he would presumably have taken – late on in the Millwall game.

Some chances have gone begging, too, but Vipotnik has looked far more capable of cutting the mustard at Championship level in the last five or so weeks than he did at any point last season.

"He is in the right areas and is attracting the ball," says Sheehan.

"He is regimental in his work for the team. I think we are playing some wonderful football through him - there is a lot of trust building up to play through him.

"Right now, Vipi (Vipotnik) is doing wonderfully well."

And long may it continue, the hope for Sheehan's Swansea will be.

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Swansea City's Carabao Cup fourth-round tie with Manchester City will be played on Wednesday, 29 October (19:45 GMT).

Swansea will host Pep Guardiola's side in the last 16 having come through ties against Crawley Town, Plymouth Argyle and Nottingham Forest.

Manchester City, who have won the League Cup on eight occasions, entered this year's competition at the third-round stage, seeing off Huddersfield Town to set up their trip to Wales.

Swansea, the 2013 League Cup winners, are through to last 16 of the competition for the eighth time in their history.

The visit of Manchester City comes after a home league game against Norwich City on Saturday, 25 October and before a trip to Charlton Athletic the following Saturday.

For Manchester City, the Swansea trip is sandwiched by Premier League games at Aston Villa (Sunday, 26 October) and at home to Bournemouth (Sunday, 2 November).

Image source, Opta

Blackburn return to Ewood Park on Tuesday hoping to finally end their home duck as Swansea are the visitors (19:45 BST).

Rovers lost their first three games of the season in all competitions in front of their own fans, but were leading 1-0 against Ipswich in the closing stages when the game was abandoned on 20 September, and will have to replay the full 90 minutes.

Valerien Ismael's side are seeking to bounce back from a 3-0 defeat at Charlton on Saturday while the Swans were pegged back to draw 1-1 at home to Millwall.

The Welsh side have a pretty dismal record at Ewood Park, with just one win in the past 53 years, but would be right back in the play-off pack should they pick up all three points on Tuesday.

• Blackburn have lost just two of their 24 previous home league games against Swansea (W17 D5), going down 1-2 in 1971-72 and 0-1 in 2023-24.

• Swansea have won three of their past four Championship games against Blackburn (L1), more than their previous nine beforehand (W2 D4 L3).

• Blackburn have lost both of their past two home league games, last losing three in a row in March 2019, while they have only lost their opening three at home in a league campaign in 1956-57 and 1996-97.

• Swansea have lost three of their past four away league outings (W1), failing to score in all three defeats.

• Blackburn's Valerien Ismael has won just one of his five previous Championship games against Swansea (D1 L3), a 1-0 win with Watford in October 2023.

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Swansea City are without a Championship win in three matches as they prepare to face Blackburn Rovers and Leicester City prior to the penultimate international break of the year.

But how many points do you think Alan Sheehan's side will collect against Rovers and the Foxes this week?

Have your say here!

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You have to go back to February for when Goncalo Franco was last left out of a Swansea City starting line-up for a Championship match.

But the Portuguese midfielder had to make do with a place on the bench for the Swans' 1-1 draw with Millwall on Saturday.

Franco was voted by Swansea fans as their player of the season for the 2024-25 campaign, and he picked up the same award voted by his team-mates.

But with summer signings Ethan Galbraith, Marko Stamenic and Malick Yalcouye preferred against Millwall, Franco missed out.

"It was very difficult," said head coach Alan Sheehan. "I think Franco has started every league game for me so far.

"He's a wonderful player, somebody that I love and just for this game we wanted different relationships and felt that we had to negate their direct play and set-pieces.

"We had to negate their direct play and set-pieces but, within that, we felt like we would have more of the ball and we wanted to be attacking. Within that we had Malick and Marko and Gally, and some of the play between them today was exceptional.

"These are difficult decisions. We're looking at the right formulas for the right games, different games, different combinations if you want to say so, but look for the first half today, the only critical thing you can say is we need to go in [at half-time] 2-0 or 1-0 up."

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Steven Benda returns to Swansea City on Saturday (12:30 BST) with Alan Sheehan in no doubt about what to expect as his team take on Millwall.

Goalkeeper Benda, 26, should start for the Lions having played in all six of their Championship games so far this season.

Benda joined Millwall on loan from Fulham in the summer, a move which has given the German a first chance to play regular football since he suffered a serious knee injury playing for Swansea in January 2023.

Benda, who moved to Wales on the recommendation of League Cup-winning former Swansea keeper Gerhard Tremmel, made 31 appearances for the Swans before joining Fulham in August 2023.

He has played four cup games for the Premier League side, but has returned to playing league football with a Millwall side who are one place better off than Swansea in the early-season league table.

Alex Neil's team beat Swansea in April, one of just five defeats Sheehan has suffered since taking charge in February.

And the Swansea head coach is expecting another "very difficult game" this weekend.

"They are in every game [they play]," Sheehan added.

"They are a very big, physical team. We know exactly how hard it's going to be, we know what is coming, but it's another thing dealing with it.

"They play quite direct, create that forward momentum and are a big set-piece team. They are very effective."

Swansea City will look to extend their undefeated home record to an eighth Championship game when they welcome Millwall on Saturday (12:30 BST).

The Swans are enjoying a superb spell on home ground, last beating Premier League side Nottingham Forest there in the Carabao Cup before suffering the hangover of their mighty win by losing to Birmingham City at St Andrew's.

Though the Lions are faring well on the road this season and will be hoping that they will be the ones to put an end to Swansea's unblemished home record.

• Swansea have lost their last two home league games against Millwall – they've never lost three in a row against the Lions before.

• Millwall have won four of their last five league games against Swansea (L1), including each of the last three by a 1-0 scoreline.

• Swansea are unbeaten in their last seven home league games (W4 D3) since a 2-0 loss to Burnley in March. They last had a longer run between October 2020 and February 2021 (13).

• Millwall are unbeaten in their three away league games this season (W2 D1), last having a longer run from the start of a second-tier campaign in 1995-96 (9).

• Millwall's Mihailo Ivanovic has had more shots without scoring than any other player in the Championship this season (14). Last season he had the third-best conversion rate of any player with 50+ shots in the division (23.1%).

Image source, Huw Evans Picture Agency

Swansea City have played 11 home games since Alan Sheehan took the reins in February and have lost only one.

There have been a couple of frustrating draws during that sequence, when late goals from visiting sides have left Swansea with one point after three had been in their grasp.

But there have been six league wins – against Blackburn, Middlesbrough, Derby, Plymouth and Hull last season and Sheffield United in this campaign – as well as the three Carabao Cup successes which have set up next month's mouthwatering meeting with Manchester City.

Only Burnley have won in Swansea since Sheehan succeeded Luke Williams, a record which makes good reading for a club whose home form has so often been too inconsistent in recent years.

Yet after back-to-back league draws at the Swansea.com Stadium, against Watford and Hull, the Swans may feel home Championship win number two of this season is due when they take on Millwall this Saturday (12:30 BST).

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"I think the home form has been good but we can't take it for granted," Sheehan said.

"We don't just show up and win games at home - we need the fans behind us.

"They have been wonderful for us and hopefully we can give them something to get behind early in the game while understanding it will be a difficult test."

Millwall under Alex Neil are not a side who tend to make life easy for their opponents, as their record this season proves.

They are yet to lose an away league game in 2025-26, having won at Norwich City and Sheffield United and drawn at Charlton Athletic.

The Lions also triumphed at Newport County in the Carabao Cup, with their solitary reverse on the road coming in the third round of that competition at Premier League Crystal Palace – and even then they were only beaten on penalties.

Gareth Vincent
BBC Sport Wales

Image source, Huw Evans Picture Agency

The likelihood is that Adam Idah will once again be made to wait for a chance to make an impression when Swansea City host Millwall this Saturday.

Big-money signing he may be, but Idah has had to stay patient in the early days of his time at Swansea thanks to the form of Zan Vipotnik.

The Slovenia international has the striker's shirt in Alan Sheehan's team right now and it would be a shock should he lose it against the Lions.

Vipotnik had scored in five successive Swansea games before last weekend's 1-0 defeat at Birmingham City, where he would have made it six in six but for an erroneous offside decision.

Idah, meanwhile, is yet to get off the mark following his £6m deadline-day move from Celtic to Swansea – though he has so far made only two substitute appearances, plus one Carabao Cup start, for his new club.

Sheehan says that while Idah is hungry for opportunities, the Republic of Ireland international accepts that Vipotnik deserves to keep his place.

For Swansea's head coach, that sort of competition is exactly what is required.

"Right now Vipi (Vipotnik) is in wonderful form and Adam is champing at the bit and ready to go," Sheehan said.

"Whether it's one playing or the other throughout the season, that's exactly the balance we want to have.

Image source, Huw Evans Picture Agency

"We have a lot of games. We are going to need our squad and we are going to need competition for places."

Sheehan has suggested that at some point, Vipotnik and Idah could play in the same Swansea side.

Liam Cullen is another player in the equation when it comes to selecting Swansea's forward line, though it seems the Wales international may be used more often in a less advanced role with Vipotnik and Idah vying to lead the line.

Bobby Wales is another option for the Championship club, though he is regarded as a development player whose time may come a little further down the line.

Sheehan accepts that there is expectation surrounding Idah given that Swansea spent big to bring him to Wales.

"I think there would be [expectation] when we sign a player that's probably number one playing for Celtic and playing in the Champions League," he added.

"But we understand he is a player who has been brought in to enhance our squad and he will. He is going to be a really good player for us, there's no doubt about that.

"Right now, we bring in Adam but Vipi goes to another level. This is what we want in all positions."

A potential move to take the Championship play-offs down to eighth place would damage the competition's credibility, according to former Huddersfield, Stoke and Middlesbrough defender Tommy Smith.

The EFL board is set to discuss proposals to increase the number of teams in the end-of-season play-offs from four to six but Smith, who was promoted to the Premier League with Huddersfield via the play-offs in 2017 is not a fan of the idea.

"It's not for me - I think it suits teams who don't really have a chance to get in the top six," he told the BBC's EFL podcast 72+.

"From a credibility point of view the top six is there to be aimed at and you have to earn your place in it."

The play-offs were first introduced for the 1986-87 season where sides finishing third down to fifth were involved along with the team third-from-bottom in the top flight.

After two seasons the format was changed to be played out between teams finishing third to sixth in the second tier.

"To finish eighth in the Championship and potentially get promoted to the Premier League it just doesn't sit right with me," added Smith.

"Notoriously over the past years getting into the top six is tough and when you get in there after a long hard season it feels brilliant, so to make it a top eight it dilutes it."

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Alan Sheehan says he is facing some "difficult" selection calls with his squad close to fully fit for Saturday's Championship game with Millwall (12:30 BST).

Centre-back Ricardo Santos, a summer signing from Bolton Wanderers, is available for the first time since pre-season after recovering from a knee injury while midfielder Jay Fulton is available after a groin problem.

Left-back Ishe Samuels-Smith picked up a groin issue in training this week, but Swansea are hopeful the on-loan Chelsea youngster will be fit for Millwall's visit.

With Swansea's squad looking more balanced than at any point in recent memory, Sheehan acknowledges he has some tough decisions to make when selecting his side.

"Obviously we'll pick a team based on what we think is capable of beating Millwall," the Swansea head coach said.

"It was difficult [to pick the team for last weekend's defeat at Birmingham]. [It is a case of picking] different individuals for different games.

"We have started with different line-ups. People have been in, people have been out. It's a very busy week coming up, but all eyes are on Millwall for now."

After Millwall, 11th-placed Swansea face a Championship trip to Blackburn Rovers next Tuesday before another home, game against Leicester City, on Saturday, 4 October.

Sheehan says sharing game-time will come into his thinking during the hectic Championship schedule.

"There's a lot of management behind everything we do," he added.

"It's not just 'he's playing, he's playing'."

Image source, Huw Evans Picture Agency

Lyndon Dykes' late goal for Birmingham City last weekend has left Swansea City with what has been a fairly unfamiliar feeling in recent times.

For only the second time this season, Swansea are licking wounds after a defeat.

The Birmingham loss was Swansea's first since the opening weekend of the season, when they went down 1-0 at Middlesbrough.

After the Boro setback, the Swans put together a seven-game unbeaten run – including three Carabao Cup ties – and Sheehan is looking for something similar now as the focus switches towards Saturday's home Championship fixture against Millwall (12:30 BST).

"This is the first time we have tasted defeat since the first day of the season," the Swansea head coach said.

"If we can keep [putting that sort of run together], that will be great - but we have to bounce back now."

Swansea have not lost too often since Luke Williams departed in February, with five defeats coming in 23 games since Sheehan took charge.

One of the losses was against Millwall, who beat Swansea 1-0 at The Den in April to end the Welsh side's seven-game, springtime unbeaten run.

Sheehan, who felt his team were worth at least a point that day, will hope for a slice of revenge this weekend against a Millwall team who are two points above Swansea in the early-season table courtesy of their win over Watford on Monday night.

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Swansea City will discover their Carabao Cup fourth-round opponents when the draw is made at around 22:00 BST on Wednesday.

Swansea booked their place in the last 16 in memorable fashion with a dramatic comeback win over Premier League Nottingham Forest last week.

The Championship club's run is their joint best in this competition since they won the trophy under Michael Laudrup in 2012-13.

Fellow Welsh sides Wrexham and Cardiff City are hoping to join Swansea in the fourth-round draw, which takes place after the final third-round ties are played on Wednesday.

Wrexham are at home to League One Reading and Cardiff go to Premier League Burnley on Tuesday.

Fourth-round ties will be played in the week commencing Monday, 27 October.

Image source, Rex Features

Swansea City will be "a force" in the Championship this season having "drifted" in recent years, according to Birmingham City boss Chris Davies.

Blues beat Swansea 1-0 on Saturday as Lyndon Dykes' stoppage-time header settled an entertaining contest in which both sides missed several chances.

Davies used to work for the Swans as part of former manager Brendan Rodgers' coaching staff, and he almost returned as head coach in 2023 when the Welsh club sacked Michael Duff.

But after that move collapsed, Davies remained with his club at the time, Tottenham Hotspur, while Swansea appointed Luke Williams.

Davies then joined Birmingham, who he led to promotion from League One last season, and he has been impressed by the Swans' improvement under Alan Sheehan, who succeeded Williams earlier this year.

"They're a really solid, established Championship side," Davies said of his former club.

"I think the stat was in the last eight months, no-one's got more points than them [in the Championship] apart from Middlesbrough, so that tells you where they are right now.

"I think they've got dangerous wingers. They look like a Swansea team. Fair play to Alan, I think he's done a good job with that because they were drifting a little bit at times as a club .

"No-one's got any divine right to be anywhere. You've got to earn it every single game and that's what we have to do.

"From Swansea's point of view, I can see the improvement that they've made, and they'll be a force in this league, no doubt."