Swansea City looking to avoid ‘new manager bounce’ against Bristol City

The Robins visit the Liberty Stadium this weekend with new boss Nigel Pearson set to take charge of his first match from the sideline.

Some football pundits say that the ‘new manager bounce’ is a complete myth, however, the Swans will have to approach the game with caution as Bristol City won their first match after sacking former boss Dean Holden. The 41-year-old was only in the hot seat for six months and a run of six consecutive defeats saw the end of the road for him at Ashton Gate.

Those denying the whole concept only have to look at Cardiff City and the incredible job Mick McCarthy has done to suggest that it does cause a positive impact. Before McCarthy took charge, the Bluebirds were being dragged into a relegation scrap but eight games later they see themselves in the play-offs and looking unbeatable.

Pearson watched from the stands for the trip to Middlesbrough this week and the Robins couldn’t have asked for a better start as they found themselves winning 3-0 after only 37 minutes. A Famara Diedhiou brace and an incredible solo-effort from Nahki Wells put the game beyond doubt before half-time.

Wells set up Diedhiou for his second and the Senegalese international returned the favour with an accurate header which pierced the Boro back-line. With the two strikers being out-of-form this season, it seems that Pearson and his backroom staff have found a way to link the two and they could cause some serious damage for the remainder of the season.

Meanwhile, Swansea claimed victory themselves during the week with a 1-0 home win against Coventry City. A Ben Cabango headed-winner in the 54th minute from a superb Conor Hourihane delivery means that the Swans haven’t lost at the Liberty Stadium in 13 league matches.

The home side will be hopeful of an 18th clean sheet in the league this season having denied their opposition in eight out of their last twelve matches.

Team News

Swansea City

The Swans have been sticking to a similar starting 11 in recent matches which has caused some knocks and niggles. Boss Steve Cooper gave this update ahead of the match:

“Ryan (Bennett) is going to be out for a couple of weeks with his calf.

“With Kyle (Naughton), we are not too sure, fingers crossed it is not too serious. He played on with it for a while, and it got to the point where it was best to take him off.

“Matt Grimes is fine, I was a bit worried with how he went down, but it was something he shook off quickly.

“Apart from those we are good to go.”

Bristol City

The Robins have been hit with a long list of injuries this season and many of them are long-term. Austrian international Andreas Wiemann hasn’t featured for the first team since the reverse fixture back in October while defender Nathan Baker hasn’t featured once this season after suffering a hamstring injury.

City’s lengthy list of injuries also includes Hakeeb Adelakun, Jay Dasilva, Callum O’Dowda and Liam Walsh, all of whom won’t feature in the match this weekend.

Match Facts

Both sides played out a 1-1 draw at Ashton Gate earlier this season with a Wells penalty that canceled out Jamal Lowe’s opener.

Swansea haven’t fared too well against Bristol City since their relegation to the Championship with the Robins doing the double over their rivals back in the 2018-19 season and their only loss against the Swans coming towards the end of the last campaign.

This will be the 78th time that both teams have faced each other with Bristol City coming out on top on 28 occasions with the Swans winning just 21.