Swansea City

Gareth Vincent
BBC Sport Wales

Image source, Huw Evans Picture Agency

It will not take Middlesbrough’s analysts long to figure out one area where Michael Carrick’s side might hurt Swansea City at the Riverside this Saturday.

Set-pieces have become a serious issue for Swansea in recent weeks.

Remarkably, in fact, every goal the Swans have conceded since their 2-1 defeat by Ipswich on 17 February has stemmed from either a free-kick or a corner.

It is probably fair to say that without set-piece goals, Swansea would no longer be part of the relegation conversation in the Championship.

Queens Park Rangers’ Steve Cook was the latest player to expose their frailty, with the centre-back rifling home a volley to give the Hoops victory at the Swansea.com Stadium on Monday.

As a result, not for the first time in Luke Williams’ brief Swansea reign, his team emerged from a game where they controlled long spells with nothing.

There are attacking issues, too, of course, with Swansea creating enough opportunities to beat QPR but not taking any of them.

But it must be particularly frustrating for Williams that his team are having so much difficulty dealing with dead balls.

Swansea have conceded six goals in their past seven games - against Rangers, Sheffield Wednesday, Bristol City, Watford, Blackburn and Sunderland - with their one clean sheet during that sequence coming against Cardiff City.

There is some irony there given that the Bluebirds have scored more set-piece goals than any other side in the Championship this season.

The Cardiff shutout suggests that when it comes to dealing with dead balls, Swansea can do it.

But Williams must wish they would do it a bit more often.

Image source, Huw Evans Picture Agency

Head coach Luke Williams says he is not looking over his shoulder as Swansea City prepare to face Queens Park Rangers on Monday.

Swansea are eight points clear of the Championship relegation zone with seven games remaining this season having lost only once in their last six.

Rangers, meantime, are four points worse off in 18th.

Swansea would reach 50 points – the traditional Championship safety mark – with a win over QPR, but Williams insists he is not fretting about league position.

“We are nearly there but I am not worried about that,” he said.

“I know we have enough quality in the squad for us to be in the division. I am not worried about that.

“I am more concerned hitting a level of consistent performance so that when people have come a long way to watch us, they can see progress in our team.

“I am not looking over my shoulder at all. I would like to try to finish this season feeling really optimistic.”

While Swansea scrapped their way to a draw at Sheffield Wednesday on Friday, Rangers claimed a potentially pivotal win against Birmingham City thanks to a spectacular late goal from Jimmy Dunne.

It was a first victory in four game for the London club – but the sixth in their last 12 second-tier outings.

“They are another team that’s going to be fighting for everything of course - we have to be prepared for that,” Williams added.

“We need to improve how we play so we can combat whatever the opposition are doing.

“We are in a decent place but we need to push from here onwards and be a really impressive team.”

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Swansea City boss Luke Williams says no decisions have been made on the players out of contract this summer.

Veteran defender Kyle Naughton, who is currently injured, midfielders Joe Allen and Jamie Paterson and forward Liam Walsh all see their deals expire at the end of the campaign.

Williams says there are ongoing talks over the contractual situation of the players, but says no firm decisions have been made on the future of the quartet.

“I understand of course, it’s obvious you ask about it and we are doing the same thing at the moment, we are talking a lot at the moment without making final decisions,” Williams said.

“There will be plenty of conversations and of course, as you know, things change quickly because of a really great performance or injury or everything in between.

“You are looking for the biggest sample size you can get before making the decision, so that is something that is going to be ongoing for a bit longer.”

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Swansea head coach Luke Williams wants his side to build on their “best performance” as they return to action at Sheffield Wednesday on Friday after their south Wales derby win over Cardiff City.

The Swans enjoyed bragging rights over the international break after their 2-0 win and Williams wants to capitalise on the feelgood factor of beating your biggest rivals.

“It was a great way to go into the international break and I was so pleased for so many people, and we have a different feeling than we had going into the game,” Williams said.

“We can take a lot from it. The teams that can produce their best football in the biggest games, that’s always a good trait to have.

“That was our best performance since we have been together and in the biggest game since we have been together, so I am happy with that.

“The players are working hard and competing against each other in the correct way, and I am enjoying seeing the players push each other and I think that will stand us in good stead.”

Williams wants to end the campaign in a manner that will create momentum for next season.

“We want to finish the season strongly, we have a great opportunity to do that. We are in a good place and have fixtures against teams in similar positions in the league to us,” he added.

“That means we are evenly-matched and we have a chance to determine how we want to feel going into the summer.”

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Swansea City look set to be boosted by the imminent returns of defender Ben Cabango and midfielder Liam Walsh - but have suffered a blow over veteran right-back Kyle Naughton.

Walsh, 26, who is out of contract in the summer, has been out with a calf injury since 1 January, but returned to training over the international break.

Cabango, 23, missed the south Wales derby win over Cardiff and Wales' Euro play-off exit with a calf injury sustained in training.

"Ben is going to be back very soon in full training so that’s very good news," Swansea boss Luke Williams told BBC Sport Wales.

Williams says he disappointed Walsh in leaving him out of the squad for Swansea's visit to Sheffield Wednesday on Friday.

"I was with Liam half an hour ago and he looked like he was going to kill me," Williams said.

"He looked like he was going to throttle me because he wasn't in the squad, the reason being he's worked really well.

"He's a guy who has been caged up and he wants to prove himself. The problem is that his body's extremely vulnerable. His mind is very, very highly motivated, but his body is not very highly conditioned yet."

Naughton, 35, is another player out of contract this summer.

He has been in fine form after returning to the side in recent weeks but will miss out on a return to his native Sheffield after suffering a hamstring injury during the Cardiff game.

"Kyle is going to be a while," Williams added.

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Filip Lissah has signed a new long-term contract with Swansea.

The defender, 19, has been a key figure for the club's Under-21s this season and made his first team debut in the FA Cup against Bournemouth in January.

And the club have announced that Lissah has signed a new deal with the Swans until the end of June 2027.

The club also have an option to extend the contract by an additional year.

"Since I arrived at the club it was clear that Filip is a young player with a real desire to fulfil his potential," said Swansea City academy manager Gavin Levey.

"Anthony Wright and the Under-21s' staff have been hugely impressed with Fil’s progress and have been a huge influence on the decision to move Filip into the first-team environment.

"The relationship between the academy and first-team staff is key and enables us to commit our best young talents like Filip to the club with a clear pathway for him to work towards."

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Swansea City’s home game against Millwall on Saturday, 4 May - the final day of the Championship season – will kick off at 12.30pm.

All games in the second tier have been brought forward to the earlier kick-off time, with details of potential television coverage to come nearer the time.

Swansea and Millwall have found some form in recent weeks, with both sides taking 10 points from their last five matches.

As a result, the Swans sit 15th in the Championship table, seven points clear of the relegation places, with Millwall three points worse off in 16th.

Image source, Huw Evans Picture Agency

Swansea City fear Kyle Naughton suffered a significant hamstring injury during Saturday’s south Wales derby victory over Cardiff City.

Naughton, 35, has enjoyed his best run of the season in recent weeks, with his composure at right-back helping Swansea win three of their last five league games.

But the long-serving Naughton, whose contract expires this summer, was forced off just before the hour mark as Swansea beat the Bluebirds 2-0.

“We are gutted,” said Swansea boss Luke Williams.

“I don’t know the extent of it yet but it doesn’t look good and this guy is incredible.

“I hope it is on the less severe side but we’ll see.”

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Luke Williams says neither Swansea City nor Cardiff City go into today's south Wales derby as favourites.

The Bluebirds head into the match on the back of four successive wins while the Swans collected seven points from three games prior to defeat at Bristol City last Sunday.

But Williams says form is not particularly relevant ahead of the meeting between the sides at the Swansea.com Stadium.

“Cardiff have been in good form. But I think it’s fair to say the form is not the most important thing in this fixture, and it’s also fair to say we are in relatively good form ourselves," he said.

“I don’t think there are favourites in this game. I think it is more difficult to call the game on numbers because there is so much emotion involved.”

Swansea sit just five points above the Championship's relegation zone ahead of the contest with Erol Bulut's outfit.

And Williams hopes a victory over Cardiff combined with the chance to work during the international break can provide the Swans with a platform to finish the campaign strongly.

“There’s still a fair amount of games left and we intend to be finishing very strongly," added the Swans boss.

"This game is different, we have to just concentrate only on this game, then we have a small break and we’ll prepare for the remaining fixtures.”