Renato Sanches has not played his last game for Swansea City, manager Carlos Carvalhal has insisted. Bayern Munich’s on loan Euro 2016 star Sanches has been back home in Portugal trying to recover from a hamstring injury and has not played for the Swans since January – sparking rumours that his one-season spell at the club is effectively over. But Carvalhal insists the 20-year-old has only flown south for the benefit of warmer weather and is expected to return to Wales later this month.

Carlos Carvalhal has revealed the story behind his lucky jacket that is helping Swansea City climb away from the relegation zone. The Swansea City manager flashed open the lining of his suit jacket after the victory over Sheffield Wednesday last week to reveal an embroidered message – “Carlos had a dream”. It was a reference to a song the Wednesday fans used to sing about their former boss, before he left the club in late December and went on to join the Swans.

Carlos Carvalhal believes he has formed a band of brothers who are marching Swansea City towards Premier League safety. The Swansea manager refused to single out any players for individual praise after watching his team thrash West Ham 4-1 on Saturday to record their seventh successive home victory in all competitions.

Carlos Carvalhal intends to repeat the outcome of his last clash against David Moyes on Saturday – and move Swansea City back out of the relegation zone. Carvalhal’s Swans host West Ham at a snow-free Liberty Stadium where the game will be a re-match between the Portuguese manager and Moyes after their two previous encounters. That was in 2010 when Carvalhal’s Sporting Lisbon knocked Moyes’ Everton out of the Europa League – winning 4-2 on aggregate, with a 3-0 home win for Sporting following a 2-1 defeat at Goodison Park.

Carlos Carvalhal has dismissed the notion that Swansea City are back under pressure and insisted: “Pressure? That’s the situation for people in Syria and Afghanistan.” The Swans manager is hoping his club’s home game against West Ham on Saturday beats the freeze and his players beat West Ham, who are three points above them in the Premier League table. Carvalhal’s side lost their 10-game unbeaten run against Brighton last weekend and in doing so they slipped back into the bottom three.

Carlos Carvalhal’s Wembley dream is close to his heart – literally – and he proved the point after Swansea City moved into the FA Cup quarter-finals on Tuesday night. The Swans manager guided the club into the last eight of the competition for the first time since 1964 after a 2-0 victory over his former club Sheffield Wednesday. Asked afterwards if his players can start dreaming of Wembley, Carvalhal opened his blazer and showed the words embroidered on the lining under his inside pocket.

The Welshman at the helm of one of Poland’s biggest football clubs insists he remains committed to his job as the Wales national team fitness coach – if Ryan Giggs chooses to keep him on. For the last seven years, Adam Owen, from Wrexham, has been a fixture of Wales’ backroom staff as fitness coach […]

Carlos Carvalhal would enjoy a return to Wembley – if only to erase the memories of his last trip there. The Swansea City manager – whose team host his former club Sheffield Wednesday in an FA Cup 5th round replay on Tuesday night – took the opposition to a play-off final in 2016 where they lost to Hull City. But Carvalhal has revealed he has returned to Wembley since then – for a personal hearing on an FA disciplinary charge last October.

Leon Britton is ready to ride to the rescue for Swansea City – again – with a comeback against Sheffield Wednesday in the FA Cup. The veteran midfielder has not played since October 21 but has recovered from a pelvic injury and could return in Tuesday night’s fifth round replay at the Liberty Stadium. Swans manager Carlos Carvalhal revealed Britton has been training fully with the rest of the squad and may be eased back against the Championship club, before the crucial 10-match Premier League run-in.

Swansea City’s Ki Sung Yueng insists his teammates will not allow defeat at Brighton to undermine their bid to avoid relegation.The Korean midfielder was part of a Swans side that crashed to a 4-1 defeat to Brighton on Saturday as their 10-match unbeaten run – including six Premier League games – came to an abrupt halt. Ki made no excuses, but insists the Swans – who have 10 matches left to accumulate a likely necessary 13 further points – will not allow a blip to become a slump.

If KFC could deliver their chicken as reliably as Carlos Carvalhal delivers his analogies, then half the meat-eating population of the UK wouldn’t be going hungry this weekend. The Swansea City manager has served up fish, lobsters, caviar and now poultry at his press conferences as well as Portuguese pastries. Carvalhal tucked into more culinary comparisons on Thursday when he was asked how many points he felt would be required this season in order to avoid relegation from the Premier League.

Carlos Carvalhal can make history as a Swansea City manager on Saturday, but insists his focus is on the here and now of Premier League survival. The Portuguses manager takes his team to his former club Sheffield Wednesday for an FA Cup 5th round tie, knowing that victory would take him further in the competition than any Swans boss since 1964. But Carvalhal has promised he will rest some players to protect them for the League battles ahead, rather than go flat out for FA Cup glory.