SWANS: Cabango in contention as Matos warns of Derby’s threat from set-pieces

Ben Cabango could be available for Swansea City’s trip to Derby County on Saturday, with head coach Vitor Matos playing down the heel problem that forced his captain off last weekend.

Cabango limped out of the goalless draw with Sheffield United midway through the second half, a fortnight after Cameron Burgess was ruled out for the season with a ruptured Achilles.

“We will have another day to assess him tomorrow, then let’s see. It’s not a bad injury. It’s not such a concern,” Matos said.

“Nothing has changed at the moment. We still have another session and then we’ll see.”

There was also an encouraging update on Gonçalo Franco, who has been out since ankle ligament surgery in July.

“He is on the step to recovery, but is still in that last phase of rehab, quite close to returning to training with the team,” the head coach said.

“Then he needs a little bit of time because he lost all the pre-season, so we will see when he starts with the team. But he’s already on the grass.”

Swansea travel to Pride Park with two new faces in the squad after a busy Wednesday, Stephen Eustáquio arriving from Porto and Jenson Seelt joining on loan from Sunderland. Matos has confirmed the midfielder is fit and ready to play.

‘One of the best managers in the league’

Derby sit 18th after two games, having drawn 2-2 with Cardiff City last weekend, but Matos was quick to warn against reading much into the table.

“I think they are a really good team. John Eustace is one of the best managers in the league, one of the nicest people as well,” he said.

“When you see a team that changes players, and the idea stays so consistent and so well managed, it says a lot about the team and about the manager.”

The threat, he said, is concentrated in one area of the pitch.

“They are quite a threat when they use Carlton Morris and Bobby Clark around him. Rhian Brewster in the last game was not available, but now he is,” Matos said.

“It’s a good team that have a lot of strength. They are really dangerous around the box and in the box, they arrive there quite consistently. It’s up to us to try to avoid that and give a proper game.”

Derby did the league double over Swansea last season, winning 2-1 in south Wales and 2-0 at Pride Park, and the head coach has not forgotten how they did it.

“Last season they scored the two goals from corners, so it’s something that we know they are really strong at as well,” he said.

“That’s part of the game and we need to be strong on set-pieces and on the way to avoid them.”

There is more than three points riding on it. Swansea sit seventh with four points from two games, having come from behind to win at Stoke City before Saturday’s stalemate at home, and a win at Pride Park could lift them into the lofty heights of the automatic promotion places. To get there, they will need to be more clinical in the final third than they were against Sheffield United.

The road has been kinder of late. Swansea are unbeaten in their past five away league games, winning three and drawing two, a run bettered only by an 11-game stretch between February and November 2020. Improving away from home is a stated aim, and one Matos traces back to the end of last season.

“We will try. I think that’s what we did at the end of last season, that’s what we want to do this season. Winning is always good,” he said.

“It’s not something that you play every time thinking on that, you play to win the game, and then of course every game has different specific things that you need to handle.”

Kick-off at Pride Park is at 12.30pm on Saturday. The transfer window closes on Tuesday.