Swansea City

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Swansea City have been spared the prospect of losing midfielder Eom Jisung in January after the 2027 Asian Cup in Saudi Arabia was postponed due to security fears.

It is highly likely Eom, 24, would have been called up by South Korea for the 24-team tournament that was scheduled to take place from 7 January to 5 February.

It could have meant Eom missing as many as five Championship matches while he was away on international duty.

But Eom will now be available for Vitor Matos' side after the Asian Cup was rescheduled to run from 23 December, 2027 to 21 January, 2028.

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Swansea City defender Cameron Burgess says he is "progressing well" in his recovery as he targets a return from a ruptured Achilles.

The 31-year-old Australia international suffered the injury during the season-opening EFL Cup defeat to Birmingham City in August.

"It was unfortunate, but things are going really well at the moment, as good as can be expected at this point," Burgess told BBC Radio Wales Sport before Saturday’s win over Blackburn Rovers.

"There's a long way to go and hopefully it keeps going well.

"That's exactly what football does to you, it throws up surprises. The hard work begins for something that I haven't really had too much in my career, so bring it on and get back stronger."

Burgess hopes to return to action before the end of the season to help the second-placed Swans maintain their lofty position in the Championship.

"Protocol says I think it could be seven to nine months," he added.

"So I think you look at nine months and you base off that and anything else is a bonus. I'll try my absolute best - if I can get back training with the lads sooner rather than later, that would be a great start and then we go from there.

"One thing I can say is it's a hell of a lot easier to watch the boys doing really well versus if they were to be struggling and you can't help, so long may it continue. I'm a massive supporter of the boys and especially the back four who have done really well."

Only Birmingham City (13) have taken more than Swansea City's 12 points away from home in the Championship as the Welshmen travel to Portsmouth on Tuesday (19:45 GMT).

Pompey have taken 10 points from their past four home games after losing their first two matches of the season at Fratton Park.

• Portsmouth lost both league meetings against Swansea last season, having been unbeaten in 13 against them beforehand (W5 D8).

• Swansea won 2-1 at Fratton Park last season, but have never won back-to-back away league games against Portsmouth before.

• Portsmouth have won their past two home league games, last winning three in a row in February-March 2025.

• Swansea have lost just two of their past 10 away league games (W6 D2), though one of these was in their last such game at QPR (0-5).

• Eight of the 10 away goals Swansea have conceded in the Championship this season have come in the first half, with four of those coming in the opening 10 minutes of games.

Owain Gwynedd
BBC Final Score

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After watching Championship promotion favourite West Ham United beat Swansea 1-0 a couple of weeks ago, I recall saying that the Swansea would be in the promotion mix at the end of the season despite their defeat.

How silly did I feel a week later when QPR put five past what was the best defence in the league at the time.

But the Swans showed real character to put in their best performance of the season, especially the first 45 minutes, against Blackburn.

A performance based on their high energy and high press. Winning the ball back early and allowing Opoku, Widell and Eom to impress in the wide channels. Widell and Eom could - and maybe should - have joined Opoku on the scoresheet.

It's scary to think where this Swans team could go.

Both of their main strike options, Adam Idah and last season's top scorer Zan Vipotnik, are out of form and were on the bench with Ross Stewart starting in their place and scoring.

For Blackburn… this one can be filed under "one to forget."

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Stephen Eustaquio is a fitness doubt for Swansea City's trip to Portsmouth on Tuesday because of a groin injury.

Eustaquio scored Swansea's opening goal as they thumped Blackburn Rovers on Saturday.

But the Canada midfielder left the field 17 minutes from time and Swansea are waiting to see whether he will be fit to feature at Fratton Park.

"He felt discomfort in his groin, so we need to assess and really see the extent of that," said head coach Vitor Matos.

"It doesn't look serious, but he felt something there, so let's see."

Swansea have fingers crossed that Marko Stamenic will be back involved against Pompey after he was withdrawn from the squad to face Blackburn because of illness.

Stamenic played no part after waking up with a fever on Saturday morning, meaning Eustaquio, Jay Fulton and Melker Widell lined up in central midfield.

Winger Ronald is definitely out of the Portsmouth trip, while fellow wideman Moussa Yeo is also expected to be absent once more.

Swansea City boss Vitor Matos reacts to his side ending their two-game losing streak by thumping Blackburn Rovers 4-0.

Image source, Athena/Swansea City AFC

Former Swansea City sporting director Paul Watson has joined the staff at Middlesbrough.

Watson left Swansea just over two years ago after a turbulent spell at the Welsh club.

The former Luton Town chief operating officer has since worked at Brentford but has now returned to the Championship as chief technical officer at high-flying Boro.

The Teesside club have also announced that head of football Kieran Scott and head of recruitment Chris Jones have signed new contracts.

"Bringing Paul in is a real coup for us. His focus is on the technical and data side of things, and he comes here with a successful background at Luton, Swansea and Brentford," said Scott.

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Tony Mowbray expects to face a wounded animal when his on-the-rise Blackburn Rovers face second-place Swansea City on Saturday, 31 October (15:00 GMT).

Swansea host a Blackburn, who have won four of their last six games, on the back of two defeats, including a heavy 5-0 drubbing by QPR last weekend.

The scoreline at Loftus Road - the biggest margin of defeat under Vitor Matos - left Mowbray surprised.

Even so, the veteran Championship boss remains mindful of the challenge Swansea pose, having lost just three home league games since December 2025.

Asked whether he expects Swansea to be a "wounded animal", Mowbray said: "Yeah, it was really surprising to me.

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"Having watched them this week, they are a really good team. They play with one six and two eights, but they are not as structured as some teams.

"That sometimes means a bit of chaos that you can't coach against. They all press and run really hard.

"It will be a day of concentration for us. Hopefully we can go there and almost have a free hit and test ourselves.

It's not by accident that Swansea have been the top one or two teams all season. "They have a pretty expensively put together football team.

"Elijah Just (pictured above) was a player we looked at pretty hard. It's a great challenge for us this week. Hopefully we can give them problems."

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Vitor Matos has suggested league positions count for nothing as Swansea City look to bounce back to form against three of the Championship's form sides.

Swansea host Blackburn Rovers on Saturday, 31 October, before going to Portsmouth next Tuesday and Birmingham City the following weekend.

All three opponents are enjoying positive runs – and currently sit inside the top half of the table.

Swansea have enjoyed a fine start to the season, yet a glance at their results shows they have fared much better against teams who are lower down the division.

Of the Swans' seven league wins so far, six have come against clubs who are currently in the Championship's bottom half.

In their five games against top 12 teams, Swansea have suffered three defeats and managed only one victory, at Stoke City on the opening day of the league campaign.

But as Swansea attempt to conjure a response after their most difficult week of 2026-27, Matos insists the league table "doesn't show a lot of things" at this stage of the season.

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"Each game is really hard, each game is really competitive, each game is really demanding," the Swansea head coach said.

"It's not about the position in the table; it's much more about the opponent, what they do well, and a lot of teams in this league do a lot of good things, independent of the position they're in.

"I think that's the lesson of what you are saying. I think if you play the first against the last [in the table], it will be a good game."

Swansea will attempt to avoid suffering a third successive defeat for the first time under Matos when they take on Tony Mowbray's (pictured above) Blackburn, who have climbed to 10th on the back of four wins in their past six matches.

"They have a really experienced manager who knows what is important to be really competitive in the league, likes to play good football like all his teams did," Matos said.

"They have a good squad, well organised, aggressive in the goal-kick press, really good offensive dynamics as well, so it's important for us to be really organised defending-wise and then like always try to impose ourselves."

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Josh Key is fit to feature when Swansea City host Blackburn Rovers on Saturday (15:00 GMT) after almost seven weeks out with a hamstring injury.

Key, 26, has not played since coming off at half-time during Swansea's win over Burnley on 12 September.

Head coach Vitor Matos says Key's return will give his side a different option at right-back.

"It's important to have him back in the squad and he's of course someone that we really like to have in terms of character," Matos said.

"He gives us someone who can really attack with speed over that side in terms of crossing.

"He also played as a winger last season with us and he had quite the impact, so he's a player with a lot of qualities that we like of course."

In Key's absence, Filip Lissah has been Swansea's frontline right-back.

With Key available again, Matos has the option of using Lissah in a central defensive role as Swansea prepare for a three-game week.

After Blackburn's visit, the Swans go to Portsmouth next Tuesday and then Birmingham City the following weekend.

Moussa Yeo appears likely to miss all those games with a hamstring injury, while Ronald – who also has a hamstring problem - is definitely sidelined.

Blackburn Rovers have transformed under Tony Mowbray and are now seeking a spot in the play-offs when they cross the border to Swansea City on Saturday (15:00 GMT).

Rovers are currently two points shy of the top eight after winning four of their past six league games (D1 L1).

Opponents Swansea though are hoping they will break out of their rut after two successive defeats to keep their spot in the automatic promotion places - and maybe even regain their place at the very top.

• Swansea City have won five of their last six league games against Blackburn Rovers (L1), conceding just four goals across that time.

• Blackburn Rovers have won just one of their last nine away league games against Swansea City (D1 L7), a 3-0 victory in August 2022.

• Despite losing their last two league games, Swansea have 23 points across their opening 12 Championship matches this season, their most since 2007-08 when they won League One (also 23 points).

• Blackburn have won four of their last six league games (D1 L1), as many as they had in their previous 19 (D7 L8).

• Blackburn's Andri Gudjohnsen has scored six goals in his last six Championship goals, netting a brace in his last two. He also has the highest shot conversion rate of any player to have had at least 10 shots in the division this term (50% - 8 goals from 16 shots).

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Swansea City will aim to put their first difficult spell of the season to one side as they prepare for three games in a week before the campaign's second international break.

Beaten at home by West Ham United and then embarrassed on their travels at Queens Park Rangers, Swansea return to their own patch to take on Blackburn Rovers this Saturday.

Then comes a trip to Portsmouth next Tuesday before Vitor Matos' team go to Birmingham City the following Saturday.

While the Championship is notoriously difficult to predict, a glance at the form guide suggests nothing will come easy for Swansea.

Though they were tipped by many to struggle this season, Tony Mowbray's Blackburn have won four – and lost just one - of their past six games.

Portsmouth have been defeated only once in their past eight league outings, while Birmingham's 1-0 loss at Cardiff City last weekend ended a five-match unbeaten streak.

Of Swansea's seven league wins so far this season, only one – at Stoke City on the opening weekend – was against a club who currently sit in the top half of the table.

As it stands, Blackburn are 10th, Portsmouth are 11th and Birmingham are seventh.

It promises to be a challenging week, during which Swansea's success – or otherwise – may offer a clue about their prospects for the winter ahead.

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Swansea City head coach Vitor Matos says the club's homegrown player situation will be a consideration when planning for the January transfer window.

Ross Stewart was left out of the squad for the recent defeat at West Ham United as Swansea had to comply with regulations requiring at least seven homegrown players in a matchday squad.

Under league rules, a homegrown player is one who has spent at least three years with an English or Welsh club before the age of 21.

Stewart, 30, does not meet that criteria, having come through the non-league system in Scotland.

"It's something that we are aware of, we were aware of it already," said Matos.

"Sometimes it's not always easy to go into the market in a way that makes sense.

"But that's something we will try to address in the next window, while also knowing the challenges that come with a January transfer window.

"Of course, it's something that we are aware of and something we will assess."

Swansea sold academy graduates Liam Cullen and Cameron Congereve in the summer, while Sam Parker and Ollie Cooper were allowed to leave on loan to League One sides.

Midfielder Ethan Galbraith was another homegrown-qualified player to depart in a transfer window that saw Swansea sign seven players who do not fit the EFL's criteria.

We asked Swansea City fans for their views following Saturday's heavy 5-0 defeat at Queens Park Rangers.

After a second consecutive loss, the Swans have fallen two points behind new Championship leaders Middlesbrough.

Here is what some fans had to say:

Michael: Bad day at the office. It's one game. My concern is that while there are rotational options in midfield, out wide and up front, the starting back four of Lissah, Cabango, Welsh and Tymon have each played virtually every game. I think that caught up with them.

Kieran: Appalling; players should hang their heads in shame. Vitor Matos' insistence on rotating the squad will be his downfall.

Karl: Awful! I just hope it's a blip; otherwise, are these silky overseas players up for the wind and rain, the rough-and-tumble of the Championship?

Rob: Swansea were well beaten! QPR started well and had won the game by half-time.

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Vitor Matos says Swansea City's upturn in away form is the result of his players choosing the right "tools" on their travels.

Swansea go in search of a fifth victory in six away Championship games this season at Queens Park Rangers on Saturday (15:00 BST).

The Swans struggled on the road during the early stages of Matos' reign, losing seven of their first nine away matches after the Portuguese took charge last November.

But their form has turned around since March, with seven wins – and only two defeats – coming from the past 11 games outside south Wales.

Matos says that improvement is a result of his players' commitment to their approach.

"I think every game is a different story," said the Swansea head coach.

"I think more than anything [the improvement is down to] the way the players kept believing in the idea, kept believing in the way we train, kept believing in what we can do to improve ourselves [while] understanding that each game sometimes requires different things.

"They understand that the way we play can offer already a lot of good possibilities to win and [there are] different tools, and that we need to agree on one of them. When we agree on one of them, we are really strong."

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Swansea have won at Stoke City, Derby County, Lincoln City and Millwall this season, with their one setback coming at Southampton.

They now face a QPR side who are ninth in the table having lost only one of their five home league games to date in 2026-27.

"I think Queens Park Rangers, as we all see in terms of stats, is one of the best teams in the league offensive-wise and they are really well organised defensively," Matos said.

"They have used already two different shapes this season. They are really competitive in their stadium, where they are really consistent."

Rangers thumped struggling Derby 4-1 in their most recent home game (pictured above), though that was the London club's only victory since early September.

Four of their past seven matches have ended in draws – including way at West Ham and West Brom - with defeats during that run against Birmingham City and Middlesbrough.