Roberto Martinez will be looking to keep his unbeaten run as Swans manager going as Northampton arrive at the Liberty Stadium tomorrow afternoon.
The Swans have picked up 6 points in the last 2 games as Martinez has targetted 5 more wins out of 8 to gain a play-off place in May.
Vital Quotes:
Roberto Martinez: ‘We have eight games left and our target is to win five of them. The boys are up for it and don’t want to be beaten for the rest of the season.”
‘It’s a huge game for us and I’m sure our loyal support will be at the Liberty Stadium again to shout us on.
We’ve got such loyal support, I don’t think anything else matters when the Swans are playing.”
Swansea Team News:
Kristian O’Leary is expected to return from an ankle injury and Kevin Austin came through the full 90 minutes of a Reserves game on Wednesday.
MacDonald is still out though with a calf strain while Trundle serves his final match suspension.
Richard Duffy is absent as he’s on international duty with Wales, but new loan signing Darryl Duffy looks set to go straight into the starting line-up to start alongside Abbott up front.
Player to watch: Darryl Duffy
All eyes will be on the new loan signing striker from Hull and hopefully he can get us a few goals during his stay with us. He’s a quick player who joined the Tigers in January 2006 for a club record fee of £250,000.
Northampton Team News:
Veteran defender Sean Dyche will miss out with a groin strain as manager Stuart Gray looks set to keep his 3-man defence of Chris Doig, Mark Hughes and Alex Pearce.
Joe Burnell is out with a ankle injury while Brett Johnson featured in a Reserves game against Southend as he recovers from a hamstring injury.
Simon Cox is also in the squad after joining from Premiership side Reading.
Player to watch: Andy Kirk
Kirk is now in his third season with the Cobblers after joining the League One side from Boston for a £125,000 fee.
He started his career with Scottish Premiership side Hearts before joining Boston in 2004. He spent just one season there, scoring 18 goals in 25 starts.
Match Facts & Stats
Like the Swans, Northampton have won their last 2 games and currently stand in 15th place in the league.
Earlier in the season we lost 1-0 against the Cobblers. We haven’t beaten them since 2000, a 4-1 thrashing at the Vetch.
Since then we’ve played them 8 times, losing 6 and drawing 2.
Match Prediction:
Next Fixtures:
Saturday, 31 March 2007
Millwall v Swansea, 15:00
Saturday, 07 April 2007
Bristol City v Swansea, 15:00
Monday, 09 April 2007
Swansea v Port Vale, 15:00
