Preview: Swansea City v Bolton Wanderers

Bolton Wanderers travel down to South Wales to take on Swansea City in the Sky Bet Championship this weekend.

Ahead of the trip to the Liberty Stadium, bwfc.co.uk have picked out five talking points to take into the clash.

  1. Injury Update

During Thursday’s press conference in preview on the Swansea City away clash, manager Phil Parkinson spoke to bwfc.co.uk and gave an update on the squad’s health.

Parkinson said: “Luca Connell could be in contention for Saturday's game after a brief battle with an illness.

"Andy Taylor has been back training with the squad and that is a massive bonus to the squad as a whole.

"We have some bumps and bruises heading into this weekend, as is to be expected at this time of the season, but players now have to dig deep when these things happen."

  1. Jason Lowe

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One player who is unavailable due to suspension for Saturday’s trip to the Swans is Jason Lowe.

The tenacious midfielder will miss the Whites games against Swansea and Millwall.

This opens up a spot in Phil Parkinson’s team, with plenty of players ready to impress with Lowe’s absence.

Who would you choose to replace Lowe? Let us know on Twitter @OfficialBWFC with the hashtag #BWFC

  1. Swansea City’s new faces for 2018/19

Following on from our last game against Aston Villa, we take on another recently relegated side from the top flight of English football.

Currently sat ninth in the Sky Bet Championship, the Swans have kept a core amount of their recently demoted side, whilst making some additions.

Brought in from Nottingham Forest was midfielder Barrie McKay for an undisclosed fee, signing a three-year deal.

The Scottish international had a glittering career during his time at Rangers, winning the Scottish Third Division, Championship and Challenge Cup with the Gers.

On a personal note, McKay played himself into the Scottish Championship PFA Team of the Year in 2015/16.

Bersant Celina signed for the Swans from Manchester City on a permanent basis in the summer.

The Kosovan international has experience out on loan in the top level of Dutch football with FC Twente, as well as in this division with Ipswich Town during the 2017/18 season.

He scored his first goal for Swansea against the Tractor Boys in October 2018.

Young striker Joel Asoro signed from Sunderland back in July 2018, penning a four-year deal.

The Swedish youth international spent the majority of his development career in his native Sweden at the likes of IFK Haninge and IF Brommapojkarna before joining Sunderland in 2015.

He broke into the first team a year later, making his professional debut against Middlesbrough as a second half substitute, becoming Sunderland’s and Sweden’s youngster Premier League player.

  1. Opponent’s latest form

When looking into the Swans recent league form, they have taken four points from their last five games, most recently losing away to Sheffield Wednesday 3-1.

Their home form has seen them take 25 points from a possible 48 on offer so far this campaign.

In Swansea’s last five home games, they have taken eight points from a possible 15 and are unbeaten in their last four outings at the Liberty Stadium.

  1. The Boss - Graham Potter

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In June 2018, Potter was appointed manager of Swansea City, signing a three-year contract with the Welsh club.

In his playing days, Potter made over 300 appearances for the likes of Birmingham City, Stoke City, York City and Macclesfield Town.

After retiring in 2005, the former England Under-21 international went to the Open University and graduated with a degree in Social Sciences.

Following work with the University of Hull, Leeds Metropolitan University and England Universities squads, Potter was appointed manager of Swedish side Ostersunds FK who were in the fourth tier of Swedish football at the time.

He achieved two successive promotions before managing to get the club into the Allsvenskan (top flight of Swedish football) after just five years in the job.

After winning the Svenska Cupen in 2017, this granted Potter’s side a berth in the UEFA Europa League for the 2017/18 season which was a first for Ostersunds.

His side went onto beat English giants Arsenal in the competition away from home, however they were eliminated 4-2 on aggregate.

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