Welsh Player News 6th February Championship (Part 4)

Swansea City
Daniel Alfei was given more chances to impress following a very successful debut against Colchester United in the FA Cup.
League: Palace 3-0 (bench, on 89)
League: Barnsley A 1-1 (unselected)
FA Cup: Orient H 1-2 (played all)
League: Bristol C A 0-2 (unselected)

Joe Allen started three matches for Swansea in this time period.
League: Palace 3-0 (played all)
League: Barnsley A 1-1 (starts, off 76)
FA Cup: Orient H 1-2 (played all)
League: Bristol C A 0-2 (bench, on 71)

David Cotterill didn’t feature at all for Swansea in this time period. I don’t know why either but I hope it’s an injury. Not that I’ve turned all masochistic or anything but I can’t think of another reason for leaving him out other than bad attitude or bad performances.

Jazz Richards has claimed a regular place in Swansea’s starting line-up.
League: Palace 3-0 (starts, off 89)
League: Barnsley A 1-1 (played all)
FA Cup: Orient H 1-2 (unselected)
League: Bristol C A 0-2 (played all)

Neil Taylor has been out with an ankle injury since the New Year fixtures.

Ashley Williams attracted the attention of Wolfsburg during the trainsfer window but he says he’s only interested in Swansea because his German is rubbish. But is it better than his Welsh?
League: Palace 3-0 (played all)
League: Barnsley A 1-1 (played all)
FA Cup: Orient H 1-2 (played all)
League: Bristol C A 0-2 (played all)

Championship Fixtures 22nd January 2011 (Part 1)

Barnsley v Swansea City
Swansea travel to Barnsley hoping for a sixth win in five matches. But they’ve also lost their last three away games.
Ashley Williams will start for Swansea, with Joe Allen, David Cotterill and young players Jazz Richards and Daniel Alfei all hoping for a place in the squad. Neil Taylor is still out with an ankle injury.

Cardiff City v Watford
A win for Watford would give them seven consecutive wins, which would equal a club record. Cardiff are still very much in the promotion pictures but two wins in nine games probably won’t help their confidence.
Aaron Ramsey has rejoined his former club Cardiff but he won’t play against Watford as he didn’t join in time to be eligible for this match.
Craig Bellamy should be back in the starting line-up to face fellow promotion-hopefuls Watford. Craig certainly has his detractors and maybe once or twice I have just vaguely thought life might be easier if Craig wasn’t Welsh but he’s certainly dedicated.
Darcy Blake should also be in the squad. Cardiff have more loanees than they have places in the squad for loanees which might be bad news for Jason Koumas (though he is ill so he wouldn’t have played anyway) but that would give Adam Matthews, Aaron Wildig, Jonathan Meades and Nathaniel Jarvis a greater chance of being included.

Championship Results 15th January 2011 (Part 3)

Swansea City 3-0 Crystal Palace
Swansea’s victory wasn’t a lot of fun for Crystal Palace and the Cardiff fans won’t have appreciated it much either. But it was a kind of good and kind of deserved win for Swansea, who didn’t exactly seem to be struggling.
Ashley Williams and Joe Allen played the full match for Swansea. Jazz Richards also started and there was a (very late) substitute appearance for Daniel Alfei following his excellent performance against Colchester United in the FA Cup.
Jermaine Easter couldn’t manage a debut goal for Palace but it’s probably not easy when you’re making your debut against the club you were playing for on loan three days ago. He came close to scoring but he probably got a bit confused about whether he was really shooting the right way. Andy Dorman started for Palace and Lewis Price was on the bench.

Watford 3-0 Derby County
Derby’s horrible run of form continued with Watford the latest club to beat them. The three goals came in a nine-minute spell which probably destroyed any confidence Derby were able to muster following their FA Cup exit to Crawley Town.
Gareth Roberts and Robbie Savage played the full match for Derby. Robbie says Derby’s FA Cup defeat to Crawley is the players’ fault but he doesn’t seem to have said whose fault the Watford defeat is.

Welsh Player Transfer News and Rumours 15th January 2011

Arsene Wenger says Aaron Ramsey won’t be joining Blackpool on loan. But that is what he said about Nottingham Forest.

Ryan Giggs has not been involved in contract talks with Manchester United. Ryan’s contract runs out at the end of this season.

It looks as though David Jones won’t be signing a new contract and will be free to move in the summer but Mick McCarthy hasn’t entirely given up hope.

Crystal Palace have signed Jermaine Easter from Milton Keynes Dons, just days after he returned from a loan spell at Swansea City. You’ll never guess who Palace’s next opponents are.

Steve Morison says he’s happy at Millwall but if he was offered the chance to go to a Premier League game, it would be hard to say no.

Mick McCarthy says that, contrary to reports, Wolves have no interest in signing Simon Church. Well, it’s your choice.

Joe Allen says he is flattered by reports linking him to other clubs but he doesn’t take them seriously and he has no desire to leave Swansea.

Kerry Morgan has returned to Newport County on loan. He first joined Newport last season and helped them into the Blue Square Premier before returning for the first half of this season. His third loan spell will keep him at Newport until the end of the season.

Rumours that Ashley Williams has signed for Chester are completely correct but it’s the Airbus UK one, not the Swansea City one.

Championship Fixtures 15th January 2011 (Part 3)

Preston North End v Leicester City
Phil Brown takes charge of Preston for the first time since becoming manager. The last time he played on the Championship, he got promoted. With Hull. But even just saving Preston would be a bit of a miracle. Leicester are four points behind the play-offs and thinking of promotion. So they really ought to be able to beat Preston.
Craig Morgan could start again for Preston but he could also be on the bench or not there at all. It depends what his new manager thinks of him really. Paul Parry has a broken wrist but he’s back in full training and could play.
Andy King will definitely start for Leicester, as long as he has no last-minute injuries or illnesses.

Swansea City v Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace have the worst away record in the Championship, having won one away match this season – and while Swansea don’t quite have the best home record, they’re not far off.
Ashley Williams will start for Swansea but it’s hard to be sure about the others. Daniel Alfei, Joe Allen, David Cotterill and Jazz Richards have all played well in recent matches but there probably won’t be room for all of them. Neil Taylor has an ankle injury and will be out for a few more weeks.
Following Daniel Alfei’s impressive first-team debut, the Swansea youth boss, Tony Pennock, has said that Daniel has a big future ahead of him in professional football. Daniel hopes to keep his place against Palace.
Jermaine Easter’s loan spell at Swansea was cut short early – so parent club Milton Keynes Dons could sell him to Crystal Palace. Jermaine is looking to scoring for Palace and helping them climb the table. Although he’s only just signed, he could play against Swansea tomorrow.
Shaun MacDonald is hoping to fight his way into the Swansea first team. Shaun has spent the first half of the season on loan at Yeovil Town.
Andy Dorman and Lewis Price should be somewhere in Palace’s squad.

Watford v Derby County
Derby were doing really really well. They did have a slightly dodgy start but then they went on a run, then they went on a good home run, now they can’t even beat Crawley Town. But the last time Derby went on a run, they kicked things off with a victory over Watford.
Gareth Roberts and Robbie Savage might keep their places. Nigel Clough might still be in a mood about Crawley Town but Gareth and Robbie weren’t actually on the pitch when the winning goal went in. Robbie is disappointed with the Crawley result, the tannoy man and Matthew Tubbs’ tackle. But maybe things will be better at Watford. Robbie also has some wise words (yes, really) for Liverpool fans.

Welsh Player Transfer News and Rumours 13th January 2011

Blackpool would like to sign Aaron Ramsey on loan. And who can blame then for trying? They got into the Premier League, they did the double over Liverpool, they know all about making the impossible happen.

Manchester City would like to buy Gareth Bale in the summer, if Tottenham Hotspur are interested in selling him but I don’t think even Tottenham are that stupid.

Danny Gabbidon could be returning to Cardiff City after failing to agree a new contract with West Ham United.


Derby County manager Nigel Clough is hoping to sign Ben Davies from Notts County this month. He could replace Robbie Savage, who is interested in a move to Vancouver.

Joe Allen has been attracting interest from Premier League clubs but his agent says he will be staying at Swansea City and hopes to sign a new contract soon.


Jermaine Easter has left loan club Swansea City early after being recalled by parent club Milton Keynes Dons. Jermaine was interested in signing for Swansea permanently and Crystal Palace are also said to have shown an interest.


Rotherham United have said Mark Bradley can go out on loan after struggling to get into the matchday squad.


John Hartson could become the new manager of Newport County. Gary Speed thinks John would do a great job.

FA Cup Results 8th January 2011 Third Round (Part Five)

Swansea City 4-0 Colchester United
Colchester are challenging for promotion from League One but they were easily beaten by Premier League contenders Swansea City, who haven’t lost at home since November. Swansea will be at home again in the fourth round: they face Leyton Orient, who knocked out Swansea’s promotion rivals Norwich City.
Ashley Williams, Joe Allen and Jazz Richards all played 90 minutes for Swansea, as did, more surprisingly, Danny Alfei, who played a big part in two of Swansea’s goals. Jermaine Easter was a late substitute but Casey Thomas stayed on the bench.
Jazz was hoping Swansea could win this match and take their Cup form back into the League with them. It’s fair to say they’ve done the first part.
Lee Beevers started for Colchester with Lloyd James coming off the bench. Tom Bender was an unused substitute.

West Ham United 2-0 Barnsley
West Ham lost 5-0 to Newcastle United in the week, a side Stevenage had apparently little trouble in despatching. Manager Avram Grant sensibly made eight changes and it worked well in the first half – Barnsley might not be among the league’s front-runners but they do have Adam Hammill. In the second half, West Ham seemed content to defend their lead, which was only 1-0 at this time, and Barnsley were quite unlucky to get an equaliser. But luckily for West Ham, the game’s second goal was scored by the home side and they progressed to set up a home match against Nottingham Forest in the fourth round.
Danny Gabbidon was one of West Ham’s rested players.

Transfer News and Rumours 8th January 2011 (Championship)

It is thought that Bristol City will listen to offers for Gavin Williams, who has just had foot surgery.

Doncaster manager Sean O’Driscoll hopes Brian Stock will sign a new contract but a number of other clubs are interested.

Kenny Jackett says Millwall don’t need to sell Steve Morison – and there’s been no contact from Fulham. So if Mark Hughes wants to manage Steve, he’ll have to wait until the Wales manager post becomes vacant again. And hopefully that won’t be for a very long time.

Millwall striker Steve Morison says he won’t be letting the Fulham rumours distract him. Wolverhampton Wanderers are also interested.

Nottingham Forest have told Robert Earnshaw he will need to take a paycut if he wants to remain at the club. Rob’s current contract expires this summer.

Simon Church has been linked with Swansea City but he’s focused on helping Reading into the Premier League.

Hal Robson-Kanu could move from Reading to Swindon Town in a swap with Charlie Austin.

Jermaine Easter hopes to sign a permanent deal with Swansea City, having apparently come to the conclusion he’d rather be on the bench for a top Championship side than for a mid-table League One club.

Newcastle United are interested in Swansea City’s Ashley Williams but Brendan Rogers has no plans to sell him. Swansea are also concerned that they could lose Joe Allen.

Swansea City goalkeeper David Cornell will spend the rest of the season on loan at Welsh Premier League club Port Talbot.

Fa Cup Fixtures 8th January 2011 (Part 6)

Sunderland v Notts County
Notts County are near the bottom of League One so they probably don’t really want to go to a team who don’t go around losing home matches very often. So Notts County will be hoping to emulate Blackpool and West Ham United. (I would go for Blackpool.)
Ben Davies should start for Notts County.

Swansea City v Colchester United
Swansea probably still remember the last time they were giant-killed in the FA Cup. I bet most Cardiff City fans remember it too. The giant-killers in question also played Liverpool..Colchester, meanwhile, will be hoping to improve on last year’s 7-0 exit to Preston North End.
Neil Taylor is still out for Swansea with an ankle injury (he’s likely to be out for four weeks) but Ashley Williams, Joe Allen and David Cotterill should all be available. It looks as though Jermaine Easter hasn’t represented parent club Milton Keynes Dons in the FA Cup so assuming MK Dons give him permission, he could also play.
Colchester are missing at least three defenders which could be good news for Lee Beevers. Lloyd James will also be hoping for a second consecutive start. There could also be a space for Tom Bender on the bench again Tom will be off to the Balon d’Or ceremony next week.

Torquay United v Carlisle United
Carlisle supporters will have to travel a very long way in order to get to this match so they’ll really be hoping it’s worth it. Neither club has won since November but they’ve both only played three games since then.
Jason Price is back from his loan spell at Bradford City but he has already represented Bradford in the FA Cup.

West Ham United v Barnsley
West Ham are expected to rest players which could be great news for Barnsley.
Danny Gabbidon could be one of those rested. Jack Collison isn’t ready to return from a knee injury but it won’t be long now.

Welsh Players Christmas-New Year matches 2010-11 (Championship, Part 4)

Swansea City
Neil Taylor had a mixed Christmas, starting off as a substitute and winning back his place in the starting line-up… only to suffer an ankle injury after two starts.
Sheff Utd A 1-0 (bench)
QPR A 4-0 (bench, on 20)
Barnsley H 1-0 (played all)
Reading H 1-0 (starts, off 28)
Leicester A 2-1 (out, ankle)

Ashley Williams continued to set new records for number of consecutive starts by an outfield player at Swansea City. Luckily the yellow card was his second of the season rather than his fifth.
Sheff Utd A 1-0 (played all)
QPR A 4-0 (Y conc pen 62, played all)
Barnsley H 1-0 (played all)
Reading H 1-0 (played all)
Leicester A 2-1 (played all)

Joe Allen remained a very important part of the Swansea City team, starting three matches and making appearances from the bench in the other two.
Sheff Utd A 1-0 (played all)
QPR A 4-0 (played all)
Barnsley H 1-0 (bench, on 63)
Reading H 1-0 (played all)
Leicester A 2-1 (bench, on 72)

I’m not sure why David Cotterill needed a rest for the match about Queen’s Park Rangers but I bet manager Brendan Roberts really regrets leaving him out.
Sheff Utd A 1-0 (bench, on 66)
QPR A 4-0 (rested)
Barnsley H 1-0 (Y 92, played all)
Reading H 1-0 (bench)
Leicester A 2-1 (played all)
Jermaine Easter slowly worked his way into Swansea’s starting line-up and was rewarded with a first goal – his first league goal of the season.
Sheff Utd A 1-0 (bench, on 45)
QPR A 4-0 (bench, on 71)
Barnsley H 1-0 (starts, G1 27, off 63)
Reading H 1-0 (bench, on 71)
Leicester A 2-1 (starts, off 67)

Lee Lucas made his second appearance of the season in a matchday squad.
Sheff Utd A 1-0 (unselected)
QPR A 4-0 (unselected)
Barnsley H 1-0 (unselected)
Reading H 1-0 (unselected)
Leicester A 2-1 (bench)

Jazz Richards made his first league appearance of the season in the match against Leicester. He played 90 minutes, something he’d previously only done against Peterborough United in the Carling Cup.
Sheff Utd A 1-0 (unselected)
QPR A 4-0 (unselected)
Barnsley H 1-0 (unselected)
Reading H 1-0 (unselected)
Leicester A 2-1 (played all)

David Cornell, Danny Alfei, Joe Walsh, Kerry Morgan and Casey Thomas did not add to their appearances in Swansea squads.

Watford
Jonathan Bond hasn’t been on Watford’s bench for months.

Championship Fixtures (and Postponements) 18th December 2010 (Part 3)

Sheffield United v Swansea City
Swansea haven’t won at Sheffield United since the year the Second World War started. That’s 1939, in case they don’t teach that anymore. If Swansea draw, they’ll move ahead of Cardiff City as their game has been postponed.
Ched Evans should start for Sheffield United.
David Cotterill doesn’t get the best reaction when Swansea play Cardiff City and he never even played for Cardiff, he was just born there. So his former club Sheffield United probably won’t be that thrilled with him either. David hasn’t been starting lately but with Gary Speed choosing country over club, maybe he’ll get more chances.
Ashley Williams looks certain to start – it will be his 300th club career appearance – but he doesn’t think this is a good time to play Sheffield United. Joe Allen is also likely to start while Neil Taylor and loanee Jermaine Easter should be somewhere in the squad. Jermaine is hoping that if he scores, the Swansea fans will stop booing him. Not that they’re all booing him but it was loud enough for Jermaine to hear.

Watford v Preston North End
Watford’s last league match went quite well. They beat Queen’s Park Rangers 3-1 away and ended their unbeaten start to the season. Now they host the team at the opposite end of the table. A win could move Preston out of the bottom three and they have been playing well.
Craig Morgan and Paul Parry haven’t started for Preston for a while. As Preston haven’t really found a winning formula yet, they might be worth a try but I don’t think Darren Ferguson reads my blogs so he might keep them on the bench.

Championship Result 10th December 2010

Swansea City 1-1 Millwall
Millwall got an excellent point away at Swansea, cleverly denying Swansea the chance to move ahead of Cardiff City into second place.
Jermaine Easter finally made his long-awaited debut for Swansea as a 56th-minute substitute against one of his former clubs. When you’re struggling to score in League One, the problem isn’t usually solved by sending the player to one of the Championship’s promotion contenders but I’m sure Jermaine doesn’t mind too much.
Ashley Williams and Joe Allen played the full match, with Neil Taylor and David Cotterill both unused substitutes.
Swansea manager Brendan Rogers wants Ashley’s contract situation resolved as soon as possible. He doesn’t want Ashley pissing off to join a Premier League club. Especially as Swansea could be in the Premier League themselves by then (and I hope they are as long as Cardiff go up too and in a higher position).
Steve Morison had chances to win it for Millwall but it didn’t quite happen.

Championship Results 4th December 2010 (Part 2)

Ipswich Town 1-3 Swansea City
Ipswich have forgotten how to win against Championship sides so Swansea ended up getting all three points, thus putting pressure on Cardiff, which Swansea probably didn’t mind doing at all.
Troy Brown kept his place in Ipswich’s starting line-up.
The only good thing about Swansea’s result is that Joe Allen scored again. It’s good for Wales. It’s probably also good for Wales that Ashley Williams and Neil Taylor only let one goal in. It seems like a horrible thing to happen but I’m sure it’s good really. David Cotterill was left on the bench which is a bit of a waste but maybe he’s saving his goals for Wales. Jermaine Easter finally made his Swansea debut. If he can go on a scoring run, that could be great for Wales too.

Leeds United 2-1 Crystal Palace
Leeds are unbeaten in seven after the double promotion hopefuls beat the surviving-by-the-skin-of-our-teeth-again hopefuls.
Sanchez Watt wasn’t in Leeds’ squad.
Lewis Price and Andy Dorman was unused substitutes for Palace.

Millwall 3-0 Scunthorpe United
Scunthorpe won the play-off final the season before last but Millwall are winning the race to stay there. My dad says they could have got four but that would have lifted Crystal Palace out of the relegation zone and no Millwall fan would want that.
Steve Morison scored not once but twice for Millwall.

Watford 3-2 Leicester City
Watford’s run of five matches without a win came to an end in this match but Leicester are five points outside the play-offs so it could be worse.
Andy King played 63 minutes for Leicester. I hope that was a tactical substitution rather than another injury.

Championship Fixture 10th December 2010

Swansea City v Millwall
So it’s up to my dad’s team to stop Swansea from moving ahead of my Welsh team. So if it works out, I’ll be happy. And if it doesn’t work out, I’ll be happy for all those lovely Welsh players. Sort of. Maybe.
Letting in the goals for Swansea will be defenders Ashley Williams and Neil Taylor with Joe Allen and David Cotterill possibly chipping in too. As for Jermaine Easter, I don’t know where he’s pissed off to but if he does finally make his Swansea debut, he’ll be playing against a former club.
Steve Morison scored twice in his last game so he should remember how it’s done.

Championship Fixtures (and Postponements) 4th December 2010 (Part 2)

Ipswich Town v Swansea City
Ipswich haven’t beaten Swansea since they were both in the top division together which must have been a very long time ago. Ipswich are hoping to avoid a fifth consecutive defeat.
Troy Brown played well in Ipswich’s Carling Cup win over West Bromwich Albion but he’s not expected to keep his place.
Jermaine Easter is yet to make his debut for loan club Swansea after injuring his thigh. He will have a fitness test to determine whether he’s able to play in this match. If he does, it will be his 250th career league appearance. Ashley Williams, Neil Taylor, Joe Allen and David Cotterill will also hope to start – but if not they should be on the bench.

Leeds United v Crystal Palace
Palace could be out of the bottom three if they manage to beat or even just draw with Leeds but with Leeds unbeaten in five matches, that’s a big if. Palace’s away form is identical to Middlesbrough’s which kind of says it all really.
Sanchez Watt has apparently recovered from his ankle injury but he’s yet to appear in a Leeds squad.
Palace are short of midfielders which could see Andy Dorman’s first start since it was revealed he was having trouble adapting to the Championship. Lewis Price will also hope to return to the bench.

Millwall v Scunthorpe United
Millwall will attempt to beat one of the Championship’s struggling sides in an effort not to become one of them themselves.
Steve Morison should start for Millwall.

Nottingham Forest P-P Bristol City
This match has been postponed as the streets of Nottingham are hazardous.
Aaron Ramsey will hope Forest’s fixtures don’t all get postponed now he’s joined them on loan. He was glad to get back to playing against Leicester City. And it’s not just you who’s glad, Aaron.
Chris Gunter says Aaron is mentally stronger after his injury.
Christian Ribeiro seems to be making the right back spot his own – Bristol City were relieved when he was declared fit to play in this weekend’s match – although obviously he won’t be playing now.
Sam Vokes was expected to play in a behind-closed-doors friendly for Bristol City but it’s not clear whether this happened or not.

Sheffield United P-P Reading
This match has been postponed as it’s just too cold.

Watford v Leicester City
Leicester hope to win their fifth games in seven matches but the last seven matches have been less kind to Watford, who haven’t won any of them.
Andy King returned from injury with a bang last weekend. He says Leicester aren’t scared of anyone and they could get promoted.

Championship Result 26th November 2010

Swansea City 1-2 Portsmouth
Swansea were denied the chance to move level on points with Cardiff City (luckily!) when Portsmouth came from behind to take all three points.
Ashley Williams and Joe Allen played the full match for Swansea. Neil Taylor and David Cotterill were unused substitutes. New loan signing Jermaine Easter probably didn’t quite join in time to get into the squad.

Championship Results 20th November 2010 (Part 2)

Doncaster Rovers 1-1 Swansea City
Doncaster will be particularly disappointed not to win this after playing well and not conceding until the 93rd minute. They actually scored twice but one was ruled out for offside.
John Oster and Brian Stock both started the match, with a lovely cross from John leading to Doncaster’s goal. Brian says Swansea are the best side he’s faced this season.
Ashley Williams, Neil Taylor, David Cotterill and Joe Allen all played the full ninety minutes for Swansea. Jazz Richards was on the bench.

Hull City 1-0 Ipswich Town
Hull won a second consecutive game for the first time this season, with on-loan Arsenal keeper Vito Mannone also helping them to a second consecutive clean sheet. Ipswich are in the bottom half of the table and their unbeaten run must seem like a long time ago.
Troy Brown was an unused substitute for Ipswich.

Middlesbrough 0-1 Millwall
I don’t know exactly why Southampton decided to loan out Jason Puncheon to Millwall but so far it’s looking like a very good idea. The debutant scored Millwall’s only goal to secure their first away win over Middlesbrough for quite a long time – and their first victory against anybody for five matches.
Steve Morison could have scored too but he didn’t quite.

Norwich 1-1 Leeds United
The two teams who were automatically promoted from League One faced off in this match, with neither emerging the winner. Leeds remain in the top six despite only drawing while Norwich are only outside the top six on goal difference.
Andrew Crofts could have won it for Norwich but no-one’s perfect.
Leeds were again without Sanchez Watt, who wasn’t sufficiently fit to return from an ankle injury.

Queen’s Park Rangers 3-1 Preston North End
The top club faced the bottom club and came out on, well, top in this match – and it probably won’t be much consolation to Preston that they scored an away goal at Loftus Road. – only the third QPR have conceded at home this season.
Craig Morgan and Paul Parry were both dropped to the bench, which probably doesn’t explain everything but I’m sure it didn’t help.

Championship Fixtures/News 20th November 2010 (Part 2)

Derby County v Scunthorpe United
Derby will be looking to bounce back from their defeat to Leicester but while Scunthorpe are quite low down in the table, it isn’t their away form that’s the problem.
Robbie Savage was left on the bench for Derby’s last game and Derby suffered for it. It sounds like his manager suffered for it a bit too. Let’s hope Robbie’s back playing this time – not least because it will be his 100th career appearance. Gareth Roberts has recovered from a back injury and should return to the squad.

Doncaster Rovers v Swansea City
The good news is Swansea need a defensive re-shuffle which will make it harder for Swansea to stay close to Cardiff. The bad news? Well bringing Neil Taylor into your starting line-up probably doesn’t count as weakening the team.
Even if Doncaster are thrashed 6-1 it won’t be all bad news although I doubt anyone would be very happy about it. They’d become the first team this season in the Championship to score in ten consecutive matches.
John Oster and Brian Stock should both start for Doncaster/
Ashley Williams will start for Swansea and wear the captain’s armband – as a number of Welsh players have done recently. Manager Brendan Rogers says he is close to signing a new contract but he expects him to play in the Premier League one day – whether Swansea get promoted or not.
After some impressive performances, it seems like Joe Allen will join him in the starting line-up, with Neil Taylor also expected to start to cover for injury. Whether David Cotterill has done enough to start remains to be seen. He’d be starting if it was up to me. Or maybe not. If I was managing Swansea I’d probably sell the best ones to Cardiff and play the eleven worst players. And I bet I’d keep the job longer than I’ve kept any other job too. That should be easy considering I’ve never had one.

Hull City v Ipswich Town
It’s early days but so far, Hull seem to be doing a pretty good job of this away victory business. It took them a while but now they’ve got it.
Unfortunately, they’ve now forgotten how to do the home victories. Maybe Ipswich can help remind them.
Troy Brown is most likely to be on the bench for Ipswich.

Middlesbrough v Millwall
Millwall have not won at Middlesbrough since new Middesbrough manager was three or four. No offence but that does seem like quite a long time ago. Boro do have a couple of problems in defence but maybe that doesn’t matter. Millwall’s strikers are either injured or just signed on loan so they won’t know everyone yet. To win, Millwall need to score two goals. It’s worked so far.
Danny Coyne has an ankle injury but even if he’s fit he’ll probably only be on the bench for Boro. Rhys Williams is still out with a pelvis problem.
Steve Morison will probably start up front for Millwall. He’s maybe a bit off form at the moment but at least he’s fit.

Wales v Austria Under-21 match Squad Updates

Wales v AustriaFour players have withdrawn from the under-21 friendly between Wales and Austria.
Tom Bradshaw (Shrewsbury Town) still hasn’t recovered from the last time he played for Wales. He has an ankle injury but he should return to full training next week.
Jake Taylor (Reading) is recovering from knee surgery
Joe Allen (Swansea City) has a dead leg.
Adam Matthews (Cardiff City) has also withdrawn but I don’t know why.

Robert Ogleby (Heart of Midlothian), Elliott Chamberlain (Leicester City), James Bloom (Falkirk) and Tom Bender (Colchester United) have been called up to replace them – though Elliott and James weren’t on the original stand-by list.

Squad
Goalkeepers: Rhys Taylor (Crewe Alexandra, on loan from Chelsea), David Cornell (Swansea City)
Defenders: Daniel Alfei (Swansea City), Tom Bender (Colchester), James Bloom (Falkirk), Ashley Richards (Swansea City), Paul Dummett (Newcastle United), Troy Brown (Ipswich Town), David Stephens (Hibernian)
Midfielders: Elliott Chamberlain (Leicester City), Nathan Craig (Everton), Lee Lucas (Swansea City), Billy Bodin (Swindon Town), Joe Partington (AFC Bournemouth), Jonathan Williams (Crystal Palace)
Forwards: Ryan Doble (Southampton), Robert Ogleby (Hearts), Casey Thomas (Swansea City)
Stand-By Players: Jonathan Bond (Watford), Joe Walsh (Swansea City), Jonathan Meades (FK Moss, on loan from Cardiff City)

Championship Result 14th November 2010

Swansea City 1-0 Middlesbrough
Swansea tried to keep up the pressure on Cardiff with a win over Middlesbrough, who continue to struggle. Promotion favourites? Maybe next year. In League One.
Ashley Williams was in the right place to clear a Boro shot off the line but he was in slightly the wrong place when his header on goal went over. Joe Allen – Man of the Match according to Yahoo - also came close to to taking the lead but he laughed off the idea that he was the best midfielder in the Championship. David Cotterill also caused panic in the Boro defence with a corner. David and Neil Taylor were both substitutes but at least they were used substitutes, unlike Jazz Richards, who has had few opportunities to build on some very promising performances last season.
Boro are still without Danny Coyne, who has a calf injury but he’s been doing his bit to help Jason Steele, who has been selected for the England under-21s.