Oli McBurnie is set to return for Swansea City at home to Sheffield United this weekend after recovering from the illness that forced him to miss their last two games.
The Swans striker sat out the FA Cup victory at Aston Villa as well as the draw at Preston, but manager Graham Potter believes his leading scorer is sharp enough again to face the Blades.
“With Oli it is one of those things where he was ill last week, a bit low, and then he has picked something else up,” said Potter.
“He was with us for the last match and overnight felt a bit worse, but we have been careful with him at the start of the week and he has trained the last two or three days so he should be okay.”
McBurnie had played in every Championship game so far this season, until he was absent at Deepdale and has scored 10 goals.
With Wilfried Bony unable to find his form of old – and seemingly free to leave whenever any club in Europe takes over his wages, with Galatasaray reportedly keen, – the reliance on McBurnie appears only likely to increase rather than lessen in the remainder of the season.
Potter has repeated his stance that no new players are likely to arrive in this current transfer window, but believes the team’s mid-table position is one fans are willing to settle for as the club seeks stability.
Asked whether the patience shown by supporters surprises him for a team that are 13th in the table, with as many defeats so far (10) as victories, he added: “They have had a couple of years of frustration being at the bottom end of the Premier League.
“It was a chance to change the identity a little bit and they’ve been fantastic.
“We don’t take it for granted, we need to keep improving. But it’s a tough league the Championship, and we’ve been competitive in pretty much all of the games.”
Swansea’s middling, mediocre season is put into perspective by this weekend’s opponents.
Since they lost 2-1 at home to the Swans on the opening day, Chris Wilder’s side have chalked up 15 victories and currently stand second in the Championship table, behind only Leeds.
“Obviously it’s not for the want of trying, but for different reasons we have not been able to be consistent with our results at home,” added Potter.
“But, if we want to be successful, we need to improve that. The supporters have been brilliant with us, I must say, they have stuck by us all the time and helped us in the games.
“Hopefully over the second half of the season we can improve that, build on some positive signs over the past few weeks and start that against a good team in a really good atmosphere.”
