The League Cup: in fairly recent times a happy competition for the Cobblers with plenty of sides from higher up the league ladder put to the sword. One team who didn’t fall foul of a claret infused upset, though, is Swansea City, who came from a goal down to score three times in the final ten minutes back in 2019 to dump us out in Round One.
Our old friends from Wembley ’97 are our hosts once again on Tuesday night and this time it will be just as difficult for Town to come out on top and to etch another name on the list of fallen giants,
The Cobblers are likely to be much changed from the side that were beaten by Stevenage at the weekend with Jon Brady almost saying as much following the game. It does, though, give a chance to players who need minutes or a chance to shine on a big stage.
Expectations aren’t especially high for the trip to South Wales but, with the type of performance we’ve put in at this stage in the past, you just never know…
The Opposition
After an inconsistent season for the most part last time out under Russell Martin, Swansea finished with a run of seven wins and two draws from their final nine games and hopes were high that they could use that form to start this campaign strongly.
But, just over a month into the summer, relegated Southampton came calling and poached Martin, who had started to show signs of discontent with the owners. Just a day later, though, Michael Duff was appointed as he stepped up from successful spells with Cheltenham Town and Barnsley, leaving the Swans in good hands going forward.
Josh Ginnelly, Josh Key and Jerry Yates are all good signings at Championship level while full back Harrison Ashby, who has joined from Newcastle United, is highly rated and should get a chance to shine at the Swansea.Com Stadium.
So change in the air for the Swans and the game against the Cobblers could be another good chance for Duff to try a few things ahead of the trip to West Bromwich Albion on Saturday.
Last Time Out
Swansea were held to a 1-1 draw by Birmingham City in their opening game in the Championship on Saturday afternoon. New City signing Siriki Dembele gave the visitors the lead but the Swans earned a point thanks to their own debutant Jerry Yates.
Meanwhile, the Cobblers were being edged out at home by Stevenage as Carl Piergianni’s scrambled effort was enough to hand us defeat.
One To Watch
Pulling the strings in the middle of the park for Swansea is former Cobblers loanee Matt Grimes. Town fans never really saw the best of Grimes in his season long stay at Sixfields in 2017/18 as we were relegated but he returned to Swansea and forced himself into their first team in style.
Grimes is now a mainstay for the Swans and has made over 200 appearances for them. The midfielder is also now their captain and will make things tick from the centre.
Team News
Swansea are without Steven Benda who has a long term knee injury but are otherwise in good shape ahead of Tuesday night. Mykola Kukharevych could make his debut after joining from French club Troyes after he was an unused substitute on Saturday. Josh Ginnelly could be another to make his debut.
The Cobblers could hand a debut to new loan signing Max Thompson in goal and are definitely without Tyler Magloire, Danny Hylton and Ben Fox. Ryan Haynes, Sean McWilliams and Harvey Lintott also missed the weekend and are unlikely to be risked again.
Line-Up Prediction
Match Officials
Peter Wright is the referee on Tuesday night. Wright last took charge of a Cobblers game in our 3-0 home defeat to Blackpool in May 2021. Sam Ogles and Dean Treleaven are running the lines and Farai Hallam is fourth official.
Prediction
A Cobblers fan all his life, Danny is the most down to earth football supporter from Northampton.
While at university in Southampton, Danny kept up to date with all things NTFC from afar, sharing his thoughts on his ‘A Load Of Cobblers’ online blog.
