Cup clash gives Clement’s Swans chance to build onWembley draw
HAVING just returned from Wembley with a hard-fought point, Swansea City will hope to take a step towards another visit to the home of English football when they take on Reading in the Carabao Cup tonight.
Having eased past MK Dons with a 4-1 victory thanks to a muchimproved second-half showing in round two, Paul Clement’s men will look to build on the boost of their draw against Tottenham and carry some momentum into the weekend’s Premier League meeting with Watford.
As with the previous round, the head coach has suggested he is not planning on making wholesale changes and will again buck the increasing trend of top-flight sides sending out weakened selections in the competition.
It will also give an opportunity for Swansea to look to knit together the attacking options at their disposal.
Understandably, it has taken time for new players and an adjusted style of play to bed in following the summer departures of Gylfi Sigurdsson and Fernando Llorente.
The likes of Tammy Abraham, Sam Clucas and Renato Sanches are adjusting to new surroundings and it has shown in Swansea’s offensive play.
In the Premier League the Welsh club have failed to register a shot on target in three of their five fixtures. Clement has got them organised and disciplined defensively, now he will look to put the pieces in place for a more complete all-round performance moving forward.
“We have some confidence and a base to work off,” he said following the draw at Wembley.
“We want to improve in our offensive play and start to show what we can produce in those areas, we have new players in several positions and everyone needs to get used to each other and have that confidence and understanding of each other when we have the ball.
“To that end I will not be making a lot of changes for the game against Reading because some continuity will be good for us.
“A couple of them will need time to get up to speed. Renato is one, Roque Mesa is another. They are working hard and we have to judge them over a whole season not just one or two games.
“But it’s also because we want to do well in this competition, I want us to go far in the cup competitions.
“Reading are a good side, they will provide a strong test for us and we will need to play well.
“We have got the game against Watford after that but we want to be going into that game with another win under our belts.
“It will be a competitive team and we have a run of games that will be very important to us.”
The Madejski Stadium clash will also see the Swans come up against former winger Modou Barrow, who left the club in August to complete a £1.5million switch to the Royals.
The Gambian international has scored once in eight appearances in all competitions for his new club, who sit 18th in the Championship table with two wins from seven games.
“Mo was a good player for Swansea and a really good guy,” said fullback Martin Olsson.
“He spent a lot of time in Sweden so I enjoyed getting to know him as I am Swedish and we used to have some good chats.
“He is quick, a strong guy and I am sure he is going to be a good player for Reading. It will be good to see him again, but we will be wanting the win ourselves.”