By David Williams
Yannick Bolasie insists he is excited to make his home debut for Swansea City after the former Everton and Crystal Palace winger made his first appearance off the bench in midweek at Elland Road.
The 34-year-old signed for the Swans on a short-term deal earlier this week and says: “I am looking forward to Saturday, for any team these home games are important.
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“My memories from when I have played at the stadium before have been of the atmosphere being electric.
“This time I’ll have all the fans behind me in a Swansea shirt. I’ve had some really good games there and I hope I can do the same again.”
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The Swans could do with some spark as they take on Huddersfield at home on Saturday, following a run of just one win in seven matches that leaves them 18th in the Championship table..
Admittedly, those games have included opponents at or near the top of the table – Leicester, Ipswich Town and Leeds United – but the fact is the Swans are only seven points clear of the relegation zone and another failure will raise concerns among fans as we head towards the busy period of Christmas fixtures.
“We want to be higher in the league – there’s absolutely no doubt about it,” Swansea’s head coach Michael Duff said.
“But we’re not, so what are you going to do, keep talking about it or trying to improve and pick up more points? That’s where we are at.
“At the start of the season, it was a little bit like we are not quite sure what we are.
“A lot has been made about this [run]. It’s run after run in the Championship, there are ups and downs. It is what it is.
“We have had four apologies from referees, we have played four of the top six [in the last seven games] and we have had a lot of injuries.
“They are the facts. We just need to keep working, keep improving and keeping our heads down.
“There has been a lot of frustration in the last few weeks but in terms of do we see things improving? Yeah. I think we have had a lot of the ball in recent weeks, which is where we want to get to.
“It’s just about getting more productive in the top third of the pitch now.”
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Harrison Ashby will again miss out after returning to parent club Newcastle for treatment on a hamstring injury after coming off in the draw with Hull.
Kristian Pedersen, Mykola Kuharevich, Joe Allen, Azeem Abdulai, Nathan Wood and Josh Ginnelly are also sidelined.
“We are as we were in midweek. There are no injuries from Leeds, we’ve got a few tired bodies and bumps and bruises, but we are not expecting anyone to come into the squad,” he said.
“Harrison has had a scan, he has gone back to Newcastle for the time being as they want to investigate it a bit more, and that’s their right as he is their player.
“He is not available for the next two or three weeks, so until we look more into it, we don’t know when we might have him back.
“Kristian is on the grass, as are Myko, Joe and Azeem but they are not in contention for selection.”
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