Carlos Carvalhal insists revenge will not be the spur when he takes his Swansea City team to Huddersfield.
The Swans manager has personal and painful history against the Yorkshire club who have defied predictions to have a buoyant first season in the Premier League.
It was last season that Carvalhal’s Sheffield Wednesday ran into David Wagner’s Terriers in the Championship play-offs, before Huddersfield edged the tie on penalties on their way to the Premier League.
Carvalhal stayed in the Championship and the fall-out was a subdued start to this current campaign which led to club and manager parting company in December.
But the Portuguese boss inisist he will not be motivated by a desire to settle a score.
“I am not this kind of person,” Carvalhal said, when asked if the sight of Wagner in the opposite dugout at Huddersfield this weekend would provide extra motivation.
“I don’t keep things with me to have revenge on someone. It is important for us and we will try to win like we did before, so there is nothing different.
“I never looked to be honest (to see them in the Premier League), really I do not care about that.
“At Sheffield Wednesday I had a lot of work to do so I did not have time to watch Premier League games to see them.
“I focused on what was happening in our competition because there are a lot of games with the cups, too. So I did not look at the Premier League games.
“There was no jealousy, zero, I am not like that. I focus on the things I have to fix, Huddersfield are next thing to fix.
“You can ask me if I watched the Champions League this week, I had the sound on but I did not actually watch because I was doing my work, even though we play Tottenham in the cup next week, I did not watch their game.
“I am focused on what is next, I never look to the side or at my neighbours, you focus on yourself.
“I don’t keep things with me to have revenge on someone. It is important for us, we will try to win like we did before so there is nothing different.”
Wagner, meanwhile, wants his side to forget about the run-in and simply concentrate on getting the three points against the Swans this weekend.
“It makes no sense to think about the next four games, we are in a position where everything is in our hands, one we love to be in,” said Huddersfield’s manager.
“We fight to survive in the Premier League and we will need to feel an atmosphere in the stadium that’s ready for that.
“We are focused on ourselves and our performance to try and hit our high standards. We are aware of how important this game is. It’s a chance to get another crucial win in front of our own fans in an incredible atmosphere.”
Team news
Huddersfield midfielder Aaron Mooy is back in contention to face Swansea. The midfielder has missed the last three matches due to an infected cut on a knee, but returned to full training this week and is expected to feature.
Michael Hefele has been ruled out for between six to eight weeks after knee surgery and fellow defender Terence Kongolo is likely to miss the next two games due to a hip problem.
Meanwhile, midfielder Leon Britton is Swansea’s only injury concern this weekend. The veteran, who ended a four-month absence as a substitute in last weekend’s 4-1 win over West Ham United, has been nursing a back problem and will be assessed before the trip north.
Renato Sanches (hamstring) remains out, and Swansea are likely to be unchanged with the Ayew brothers – Andre and Jordan – in tandem up front.
Opta stats
- Huddersfield have only lost one of their last six home league games against Swansea (W4 D1), though it was in the last such meeting in a League One match in March 2008 (0-1).
- The Terriers haven’t won back-to-back home league games since November.
- In their nine Premier League games under Carlos Carvalhal, Swansea have scored 14 goals and failed to score just once. In their previous 20 games this season, they scored just 11 goals, failing to score on 11 different occasions.
- This will be Swansea’s 22nd Premier League game played on a Saturday this season, which will be more than any other side.
- Steve Mounie has scored four goals in his last seven games for Huddersfield in all competitions, as many as he’d netted in his previous 16 for the club.
