SWANS: Welsh knee worry and Eustáquio out until after the international break as injuries pile up for Matos

One defender’s knee is being assessed and a midfielder is out for weeks. Vitor Matos also explains what went wrong in stoppage time.

Richard Bond
5 Min Read
Swansea City defender Stephen Welsh is helped off the pitch by two members of the Swans medical staff in red jackets at Fratton Park
Stephen Welsh is helped off at Fratton ParkHuw Evans Picture Agency

Stephen Welsh is being assessed after hurting his knee at Fratton Park.

Vitor Matos said: “He had something on the knee, but we need to assess to see the extent and the gravity of the situation.”

Welsh signalled to the coaching staff that he could not carry on after a challenge from Portsmouth’s Ebou Adams, and Ben Cabango replaced him in the first half.

The 26-year-old has been a mainstay since joining from Celtic last summer, and earned a first Scotland call-up from head coach Sebastien Pocognoli in September.

There is no quick return for Stephen Eustáquio, who is expected to be out until after the international break with a groin injury.

Stephen Eustáquio groin injury: back after the international break

Eustáquio went off against Blackburn on Saturday, and Matos said before the Portsmouth trip that it did not look serious.

Now he expects the Canada captain to be out for longer. He said: “Stephen has a groin injury, but he will probably return after the international break.”

That leaves Eustáquio set to miss Saturday’s trip to Birmingham City (3pm).

Jisung Eom and Ben Cabango knocks after Blackburn

Jisung Eom missed out at Fratton Park after picking up knocks against Blackburn.

Club captain Cabango had a knock of his own and was only cleared just before the squad travelled, which is why he started on the bench.

Matos said: “Unfortunately, Welsh had that, so we needed to force Ben to play.”

Matos added: “So now it’s more important to recover, really assess everyone, and see what we can do to then beat Birmingham.”

‘Something we need to do better’: the corner that cost Swansea

Matos called Fratton Park “a hard place to come”, and said the first half went as he expected, with “a lot of physicality, a lot of second balls, a lot of duels”.

Terry Devlin’s opener in the 3-1 defeat came from one of those situations, he said, before his side brought the game back to them “step by step”.

He said: “I think we did really well after half-time.”

Once Zan Vipotnik had levelled from the spot, Matos felt the game “could have turned to us”.

Instead, Devlin’s winner came from a corner. Matos said: “So that’s something we need to do better.”

He put the third goal down to his side chasing an equaliser. “It ended 3-1 but that was a situation where we were really pushing to try to get a point.”

‘Stay balanced, stay in control’

Matos said handling moments like these is part of growing as a team in the Championship.

He said: “That’s what we need to do better. Stay balanced, stay in control, stay focused on what we can do on the game and what we can control.”

He admitted that was not easy, coming so soon after a tough game at the weekend. “We are all human beings,” he said.

It is a third defeat in four league games, and the Swans have dropped to fourth.

Birmingham City next at St Andrew’s

Matos wants his side to impose themselves at high-flying Birmingham on Saturday.

He said: “The group of players we have already give answers on hard moments, and they know what we need to do to win games.”

Matos added: “We’re going to show ourselves in the best way possible, and trying to impose ourselves with our game, and like every game, attack.”

Author

Richard Bond

Swansea-based sports journalist.
Twitter: @RichBond00
Email: RichardBond@swanseabaynews.com


Discover more from Swansea Bay News

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Share This Article
Swansea-based sports journalist. Twitter: @RichBond00 Email: RichardBond@swanseabaynews.com
Leave a Comment

Leave a Reply