Swansea City

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Luke Williams hopes Swansea City will learn lessons from the early weeks of the new season when they host Norwich City on Saturday (15:00 BST).

Swansea go in search of a second Championship win of the new campaign as they return to action after the first international break.

Their one league maximum so far came at home to Preston, while they were held by Cardiff City in their other second-tier fixture at the Swansea.com Stadium.

There have been two narrow defeats away from home, at Middlesbrough on the opening day and at West Brom a fortnight ago.

“We need to try to learn from each block of games how we can do better,” said Swansea head coach Williams.

“We have had two 1-0 defeats away against very good sides. If you get 1-1 draws there it’s a completely different landscape and we are not too far from there.

“I think we were outplayed in both those games, certainly in the first halves, but a one-goal margin… you can conceivably turn those into two great results.

“And in the derby, I think it’s fair to say having dominated the first 40 minutes and struck first, we should win that game.”

Swansea are 16th in the early-season league table, with Williams saying it would be “silly” to suggest their new-look squad can compete at the top end of the division this season.

Nevertheless, he says a positive campaign is within Swansea’s reach after the struggles of 2023-24.

“We need to be more resilient on the road, that’s quite clear, and we have to be more thorough and concentrated at home,” Williams added.

“We were probably overwhelmed in both away games, then bounced back and showed character in the second halves - but we left it too late in both games.

“It doesn’t seem to me like we are a huge distance away from where we want to be.”

Norwich claimed a first league win of the season at Coventry last time out, though they have not lost in the second tier since a 2-0 reverse at Oxford on the opening weekend.

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Ollie Cooper believes his best is yet to come despite reclaiming his place in the Wales squad on the back of a bright start to the season at Swansea City.

Cooper made his first Wales start as Craig Bellamy’s side won in Montenegro on Monday having featured as a late substitute in the home draw with Turkey last Friday.

The 24-year-old had not been involved with Wales, having struggled for consistency at Swansea last season.

But while he is “glad to be playing” under Swansea boss Luke Williams, Cooper says he wants to have a bigger impact in the Championship.

“I still think there’s a lot more I can bring to the team,” Cooper said.

“Towards the end of last season I was slowly building my confidence back up again and I feel like the more I play, the more that’s going to happen and the more I am going to be able to show what I can do.”

Cooper says the mood in the Wales camp is “very positive” after an unbeaten start to the Bellamy era.

“There was a real positive buzz around the place,” he added.

“I think you have seen from the first two games the way he (Bellamy) wants us to be and it’s an exciting time for everyone.”

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Swansea City have been boosted by news that Liam Cullen will be fit for Saturday’s Championship game with Norwich City, but they have lost Kristian Pedersen to a hamstring problem.

Cullen was forced to withdraw from the Wales squad for their Nations League games against Turkey and Montenegro with an ankle injury.

The striker also missed Swansea’s 1-0 defeat at West Brom prior to the international break, but he is back in contention for Norwich’s visit to the Swansea.com Stadium.

“He was unfortunate not to be able to remain with the Wales squad, but he is back in full training and available,” head coach Luke Williams said.

There is more good news for Swansea regarding Sam Parker, who is back in full training having been out since January with a serious hamstring injury.

Fellow teenage wide player Aimar Govea is also back training after hamstring trouble, but Danish defender Pedersen is facing a spell out.

“We have a problem with Kristian Pedersen - he is going to need a few weeks to recover from a hamstring injury,” Williams said.

Long-term absentee Josh Ginnelly remains on the sidelines having suffered another setback in his bid to return to action after rupturing an Achilles last September.

“He is continuing to struggle to find his route back into full training,” Williams said.

“When he gets close he seems to have a setback. We continue to try to help him get to where he needs to get to.”

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French legend Claude Makelele was once part of Swansea City’s staff under Paul Clement.

Now the man who had a midfield position named after him is poised to reunite with Clement in the dugout.

Makelele, 51, is expected to be named manager of Greek top-flight side Asteras Tripolis having left his role in Chelsea’s loan department last year.

He will be assisted by Clement, having worked under the Englishman during his spell in charge at Swansea.

Clement kept Swansea in the Premier League after taking charge in January 2017, but departed in December that year with the club bottom of the table and heading for the Championship.

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Swansea City return to Championship action against Norwich City on Saturday after some members of Luke Williams’ squad racked up the air miles during the international break.

Eom Ji-Sung was on his travels with South Korea, sitting on the bench as they drew 0-0 with Palestine in Seoul – a result which prompted boos from the home crowd - last Thursday before winning just his second senior cap in Oman on Tuesday.

Eom came on as a late substitute as South Korea, led by Tottenham's Son Heung-Min, claimed a 3-1 win.

Another of Swansea’s summer signings, Lawrence Vigouroux, was an unused substitute in two World Cup qualifying games having been recalled by Chile.

The Chileans lost 3-0 to Argentina in Buenos Aires last Friday and were beaten 2-1 at home in Bolivia on Tuesday, with Racing Club’s Gabriel Arias preferred to Vigouroux in goal.

Nathan Tjoe-A-On may have struggled for Championship game-time since moving to Swansea, but he played two full matches as Indonesia drew 1-1 in Saudi Arabia last Thursday and then held Australia to goalless draw on Tuesday.

Tjoe-A-On featured in midfield against the Socceroos, in a game which was played in front of more than 70,000 fans in Jakarta.

Striker Zan Vipotnik sat on the bench throughout Slovenia’s 1-1 home draw with Austria last Friday, then featured for the final 25 minutes in Monday’s 3-0 victory over Kazakhstan, which was also in Ljubliana.

There were mixed fortunes for Swansea’s Welsh contingent, with Liam Cullen dropping out of Craig Bellamy’s squad due to injury and Ben Cabango sitting on the bench throughout the new Wales head coach’s first two games in charge.

Ollie Cooper enjoyed himself having been recalled by Wales, making his first international start in Monday’s win over Montenegro having featured as a late substitute against Turkey.

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Swansea City Women have signed attacking midfielder Danielle Broadhurst.

The 32-year-old has been on trial at Swansea having left Barry Town United Women at the end of last season.

Broadhurst joined Barry last January having previously spent 11 years with Cardiff City Women.

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Ollie Cooper will return to Swansea City duty this week having fulfilled a dream while on international duty.

Midfielder Cooper made his first Wales start in Monday’s Nations League victory over Montenegro.

Cooper made his Wales debut under Rob Page in March 2023, but had not been part of the national set-up for more than a year before being recalled for this month’s games by new head coach Craig Bellamy.

The 24-year-old featured as a late substitute in last Friday’s draw with Turkey, before being named as one of five changes to Bellamy’s starting side in rain-soaked Niksic.

“It’s what you dream of,” Cooper said.

“I had a taste coming on the other day. You always want more so to finally get the opportunity to start was amazing and I am really happy with how it went.”

Cooper’s blend of tenacity and quality on the ball ensured he played a part in the first win of the Bellamy era.

“It was one of those games where the pitch wasn’t great and the weather was awful, but I think the boys showed real heart and determination just to deal with it and do enough to get the three points,” he said.

Cooper feels Wales’ new style under Bellamy – which is based around trying to control possession and pressing opponents high up the pitch – is suited to his qualities.

His first full cap continued what has been a bright start to the season, with Cooper making a positive impression at Swansea having struggled for consistency in 2023-24.

While his immediate focus will be on Swansea’s Championship game at home against Norwich City this Saturday, Cooper can expect to be part of the Wales squad once more when they take on Iceland and Montenegro in October - and he has high hopes for the future at international level under Bellamy.

“I think he’s a great guy, a great gaffer,” Cooper said.

“Like he has said, this is just the start. We have been together a week and we have already put on two very good performances in two very different games.

“We still have a long way to go, so every time we get together hopefully we will see an improvement.”

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Swansea City Women have signed Taite Trivett as they continue preparations for the new Adran Premier season.

Trivett (pictured above playing against the Swans) is primarily a forward but has operated in a number of positions during a trial at Swansea.

The 20-year-old left Barry Town United at the end of last season.

Swansea start the new campaign with a trip to Cardiff Met on Sunday, 15 September.

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Swansea City will assess Liam Cullen’s fitness after he returned from international duty having missed both of Wales’ Nations League fixtures.

Cullen was named in Craig Bellamy’s squad despite an ankle injury that kept him out of Swansea’s defeat at West Brom.

After some individual work, Cullen trained with teammates leading up to Friday’s home opener against Turkey, but withdrew from the camp, external on the day of the game through injury and returned to Swansea rather than travel to Montenegro.

Midfielder Oli Cooper – who earned his second cap when he replaced Jordan James late on in the 0-0 draw – is in Bellamy’s squad tonight, as is defender Ben Cabango, an unused sub in Cardiff.

Short of attacking options, Swans head coach Luke Williams will be keeping his fingers crossed over the fitness of three-cap frontman Cullen for Saturday’s visit of Norwich City,

Fellow striker Zan Vipotnik was on the bench for Slovenia in their 1-1 draw in Austria and is in the squad for tonight’s home clash with Kazakhstan.

Elsewhere, Eom Ji-Sung was also on the bench for South Korea in their goalless World Cup qualifying draw with Palestine, the once-capped midfielder’s first involvement with the senior national side in two years. The Taegeuk Warriors face Oman tomorrow.

Meanwhile, goalkeeper Lawrence Vigouroux was also back in Chile’s senior set-up for the first time in five years, although he did not get on the field at Bueno Aeries’ Estadio Monumental as goals from Alexis Mac Allister, Julian Alvarez and Paulo Dybala gave Argentina a 3-0 win, with Chile continuing their World Cup qualifying against Bolivia on Tuesday night.

There was, though, 90 minutes for full-back Nathan Tjoe-A-On who played in Indonesia’s 1-1 draw with Saudi Arabia in Jeddah, with their second World Cup qualifier of the international window at home against Australia in Jakarta tomorrow.

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Swansea City have reached the first international break of 2024-25 after what has been a mixed start to the new season.

There have been two league defeats - plus an EFL Cup loss to Wycombe Wanderers - one handsome win over Preston North End and a south Wales derby draw with Cardiff City.

The transfer window has now closed, meaning Luke Williams must work with the players he has - unless Swansea dip into the free-agent market, as they did with Yannick Bolasie last season - until January.

We asked you what you made of the window, as well as Swansea's early games in this campaign.

Here are some of your responses.

Gary: It has been plainly obvious to every fan or anyone who has watched Swansea play that since [Joel] Piroe left, they need an out-and-out striker, or an old head journeyman striker who knows where the goals are. You can fiddle with the rest of the team as much as you want but we need a striker asap.

Gareth: Swansea have had another typical transfer window. We bring in exciting-sounding players and get an exciting result or two, but then the usual Swans rot sets in when we realise that we have maybe 18 decent players but no depth. I swear that since the Americans took over they think there is a squad cap similar to the NFL. New season, same old story.

Simon: We needed to sign two strikers and two central defenders in the summer. Happy with midfield and the wingers are showing some promise. We still look very lethargic and indecisive a lot of the time. Players seem to run into dead ends with no idea what to do next. Mid-table finish likely.

Paul: Play like they did in the second half against Preston and they will win their fair share of games. As for promotion, that's just a pipe dream right now. Top 12 would be a good season with the players we have.

Stevo: Faith in the manager is key but we have a seriously inexperienced squad at this level. New signings will take a while to bed in but there's clearly some talent there. Goalscoring is a problem if we remain so pedestrian in the build-up. No sense in getting on the back of players low on confidence - encouragement and patience needed now.

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Joel: Have a lot of faith in this Swansea team! Zan the man [Vipotnik] will improve I'm sure, just needs to find his feet.

Ianto: Quality strikers don’t grow on trees and there is hope that Vipotnik will follow in the footsteps of the likes of Michu, [Wilfried] Bony and Piroe to become another 20-goal talisman. However, the team needs to quickly adapt and play to his strengths.

Ben: Some promising periods of football, but we still don’t know if manager Luke Williams can make this team great. I like Williams, because he is positive and yet honest, but he has a lot of work to do.

Gareth: Swansea were in dire need of quality reinforcements during the summer transfer window and we were led to believe by the ownership structure that plans were well under way early to reshape the squad. A few signings were made but we are still significantly short of players and our manager, his players and the fans have been let down once again.

Joey: We’re definitely light in the striker department even if some fans don’t want to admit it. Injuries and suspensions will hold us back massively this season. Hopefully the board recognises this, I won’t hold my breath though.

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Swansea City Women will play two fixtures at the Swansea.com Stadium in the early stages of the new Adran Premier season.

The 21,000-capacity ground will host the club’s first home game of the new campaign, against Barry Town United Women on Sunday, 22 September (14:00 BST).

They will be back at the stadium for the south Wales derby against Cardiff City Women on Sunday, 6 October (17:45 BST).

The Swans, who are heading into their first season under new boss Jamie Sherwood, have played at the Swansea.com Stadium on three previous occasions.

It's been more of the same mixed bag from Swansea City so far this season.

Although impressive in the win over Preston, the first four games have been Luke Williams' side fail to find consistency within games.

The weekend defeat at West Brom saw them dominated in the first-half, before a rally after the interval. It came less than a week after a south Wales derby that saw Swansea fly from the start and then lose their way.

Former Swans midfielder Andy Robinson suggested he was concerned at a lack of cutting edge at the Hawthorns as Zan Vipotnik struggled with Liam Cullen injured.

And with no frontman signed before the transfer window closed, is that an obvious problem not solved over the summer which will scupper any hopes of pushing on this season?

Maybe you think the club's recruitment overseas will come good with Goncalo Franco catching the eye in the derby and late signings Florian Bianchini and Nelson Abbey still to find their feet?

What do you think of the start and the summer transfers Swans fans? You can have your say by sending your views here, external.

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Seven Swansea City players have been selected to represent their countries during the September international break.

Ben Cabango, Liam Cullen and Ollie Cooper are all in Craig Bellamy's first Wales squad for the Nations League games against Turkey and Montenegro.

Swans goalkeeping coach Martyn Margetson has also re-joined the Wales coaching staff, having previously held the position between 2011-2016, first under Gary Speed then Chris Coleman.

New signing Eom Ji-Sung has been recalled to the South Korea squad for their 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Palestine and Oman.

Goalkeeper Lawrence Vigouroux is in the Chile squad that will face world champions Argentina and Bolivia as part of their qualification process for the 2026 World Cup.

Swans striker Zan Vipotnik has joined up with the Slovenian national team for the first time since Euro 2024 as they face Austria and Kazakhstan in the Nations League.

And defender Nathan Tjoe-A-On re-joins the Indonesian national team as they visit Jeddah to face Saudi Arabia, before hosting Australia in two 2026 World Cup qualifiers.

As always Swans head coach Luke Williams will wish them success - and also have his fingers crossed they come back fit and ready to return to Championship action against Norwich on Saturday, 14 September.

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Luke Williams accepts he may need to "shuffle his pack" when injuries hit given the lack of depth in certain areas of Swansea City's squad.

Striker Zan Vipotnik made his first Championship start for the Swans in the 1-0 defeat by West Bromwich Albion in the absence of Liam Cullen who missed the clash with the Baggies due to an ankle injury.

After Vipotnik was withdrawn in the second half, attacking midfielder Ollie Cooper led the line for the visitors at The Hawthorns - with no other recognised striker available to Williams.

And Williams admits he might have to fully utilise the versatility of certain members of his squad during the course of the season.

"Ollie can lead the line in that way and I think we have a couple of other players in the squad that can potentially play in that nine position, but when you move a player, someone has to replace them in their position," explained the Swansea head coach.

"We don't have huge numbers, but we will work out a way of making sure that we can survive players being injured for a few weeks and be able to shuffle the pack a little bit."

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Luke Williams admits Swansea City striker Zan Vipotnik has "a way to go" as he gets to grips with the rigours of the Championship.

The Slovenia international, 22, joined the Swans on a free transfer in the summer after having his Bordeaux contract terminated.

He has featured in each of Swansea's six matches in all competitions so far this season, scoring his first goal of the campaign in a 3-0 win over Preston North End.

Vipotnik was handed his first Championship start for the Swans in the 1-0 defeat by West Bromwich Albion.

The frontman touched the ball just six times before being withdrawn in the 62nd minute and lacked a ruthless instinct when played through on goal by captain Matt Grimes early on in the second half at The Hawthorns.

"The reality is, we have a number of players with very limited Championship experience," said Williams.

"We believe in them and we need to give them some time and help them to understand the ferocious level of the Championship.

"Vipi, he showed some glimpses of what we expect from him.

"I would like to think, in a few weeks down the line, he does better with the chance, he hesitated a bit.

"Overall he's OK, but he has a way to go."

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Luke Williams played down concerns over the fitness of Liam Cullen after he missed Swansea City's 1-0 defeat by West Bromwich Albion.

The striker was left out of the away side's squad for the Championship fixture at The Hawthorns due to an ankle injury.

But Swans head coach Williams does not expect Cullen to be on the sidelines for long.

"He picked up an injury in the last game," said Williams.

"He tried to train but it was too painful.

"We had the scan and it revealed a small injury that shouldn't take too long to recover from.

"We're expecting him back after the international break."

Cullen was included in Craig Bellamy's Wales squad for the Nations League matches against Turkey and Montenegro during the international break.