Swansea City

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BBC Sport Wales asked Swansea City fans for their views after the opening day defeat at Middlesbrough in the Championship. Here's what they said:

Gary: "It's been obvious since [Joel] Piroe left that Swansea need a striker, [Liam] Cullen can score goals in the Championship and in internationals but he is not a striker, the Swans need a 20 goals a season, proven striker, but they do not grow on trees and the Swans are not willing to splash the cash, so it'll probably be an unknown like Piroe or give one of the youngsters a go."

Gareth: "This Swansea team, with Alan Sheehan, can beat anyone on their day. Swansea are getting stronger again now and that counts for a lot."

Alan: "Poor start but only to be expected when you sell off all the talent once again."

Max: "Terrible. Needs to change soon, otherwise a long season in a relegation battle. Squad seems one or two short, as some players are prone to injury. Sheffield United next, a tough game, but a real chance for the crowd to get behind the players at home."

Ian: "Same story every year, hardly any shots on goal. Manager bemoaning lack of creativity when he is the man supposed to sort that out. I can see the script continuing all year."

Richard: "The new players need time to settle in. Swansea knew that they needed a quality striker at the end of last season, but is it going to be the same old story. We tried but just couldn't get a deal over the line. I feel so sorry for all the loyal fans. Another long hard season ahead."

Ron: "It looks like we need a centre forward".

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Swansea City have met Crawley Town only once in their history, during the run which ended with the Welsh club's one major trophy.

Twelve years on from their triumph over Bradford City at Wembley, Swansea face Crawley once more in the League Cup.

The circumstances are a little different this time around. Crawley are in League Two rather than League One, as they were when Swansea – then of the Premier League – visited in September 2012.

Swansea's starting side that night featured the likes of Ben Davies, Leon Britton and Ki Sung-Yueng as well as Michu, who scored to put Michael Laudrup's team 1-0 up.

But Crawley threatened to cause a shock as they led 2-1 with 16 minutes remaining, only for Danny Graham to level before a rare goal from club skipper Garry Monk gave Swansea victory in stoppage time.

Five months later, Monk and Co were lifting the trophy under Wembley's arch.

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The best Swansea have managed since then in the League Cup is two runs to the fourth round, in 2014-15 and 2017-18.

Having been knocked out in round two in each of the last two seasons, Swansea will hope to clear the first hurdle in what is now the Carabao Cup as Alan Sheehan eyes a first win of 2025-26.

This is a first home game of the new campaign for Sheehan's team, who were beaten by a set-piece goal in a forgettable Championship opener at Middlesbrough on Saturday.

With Sheffield United to come next in the league this weekend, a win against a Crawley side who have begun the campaign with back-to-back fourth tier defeats would be welcome – while anything less would mean a blow to early-season morale.

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Swansea City started the 2025-26 season just as they did last year's campaign - with a 1-0 defeat at Middlesbrough.

It was a disappointing way to open Alan Sheehan's first full season in charge, with the head coach bemoaning Swansea's lack of attacking threat after Boro went in front.

But he will hope for a better week at home when they host Crawley in the first round of the Carabao Cup on Tuesday night (19:00 BST) and Sheffield United in the Championship on Saturday (15:00 BST).

Two of Swansea's summer signings made their debuts in the starting line-up at the Riverside Stadium - defender Cameron Burgess and midfielder Ethan Galbraith - while others were introduced off the bench.

So what did you make of the new recruits? And the performance overall? What does Sheehan still need to do in the transfer market?

Let us know your views by clicking here.

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Swansea City will look to get their season up and running on Tuesday night when they host League Two Crawley Town in the Carabao Cup (19:00 BST).

Alan Sheehan's Swans began their Championship campaign on Saturday with a 1-0 defeat away to a Middlesbrough side coached by Welshman Rob Edwards.

New loanee Kaelan Casey came off the bench in the second half at the Riverside to make his Swansea debut, and the 20-year-old from West Ham United is hoping for a bigger slice of the action against Crawley - and a first run-out in front of the home supporters at the Swansea.com Stadium.

"I'm looking forward to Tuesday and hopefully I'll get some more minutes," Casey said.

"You should never underestimate any team really, but I'm looking forward to it and can't wait to play in front of the fans.

"We've got some really good defenders here... the skipper Ben [Cabango], Cameron [Burgess] - experienced players and I think I can learn off of them as well.

"But hopefully further into the season I'll get some minutes and we'll see."

Crawley come into the game on the back of defeat to another Welsh club, having lost 2-1 at home on Saturday to Newport County in League Two.

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Swansea City began their Championship campaign on Saturday with a 1-0 defeat at Middlesbrough, Dael Fry scoring the decisive goal for Rob Edwards' side from a corner.

Kaelan Casey, who only joined last Wednesday on a season-long loan from West Ham United, made his Swans debut off the bench at the Riverside, the 20-year-old replacing Ben Cabango in the 75th minute with the centre-back suffering from cramp.

"First half I think we played really well," said Casey. "Second half we conceded from a set piece which is not great, but I think going to training we'll work on some stuff and be back for the next game.

"I came in the other day, trained a couple of times but really looking forward to the season ahead."

An England Under-20 international, Casey has made two substitute appearances in the Premier League for West Ham but has been allowed to leave in order to gain first-team experience.

"I've come here to test myself and see what I can do," he added. "But I've mainly come to help the team out and try as do as well as we can.

"It's a family club, the facilities here, the players, they way we play [are good]. I spoke to the manager (Alan Sheehan) to see the way he wanted to play and that attracted me to come here."

Swansea City play their first home game of the season on Tuesday night when they host Crawley Town in the Carabao Cup (19:00 BST).

Gareth Vincent
BBC Sport Wales

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There may have been a feeling of deja vu for the 685 travelling fans at the Riverside on Saturday.

Swansea City have a different head coach, director of football, chief executive and ownership group compared to the opening day of last season.

But once again the Welsh club started their Championship campaign with a trip to Middlesbrough – and once again they were beaten 1-0.

This was a different type of contest. Last year, Luke Williams' Swansea side had almost 64% of possession on the opening day, yet it was Boro who deserved the points having managed 18 shots compared to only five from the visitors.

This time around, Boro had 53.5% of the ball but just six efforts on goal compared to Swansea's three.

In truth, this weekend's trip to Teesside was a forgettable one, with Sheehan's team looking reasonably solid defensively but short of attacking quality.

It was a similar story for Middlesbrough, who could not have grumbled too much had the game finished goalless. It was that sort of match.

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An away draw would have represented a decent start to the season for Swansea.

But even a battling point would not have masked the fact that Sheehan's side need to be much better going forward if they are to maintain their springtime momentum in the early weeks of the new campaign.

As was the case 12 months ago, it is obvious Swansea's squad is lacking in certain areas.

But the failure to threaten a Boro side who also look like a work in progress cannot simply be put down to the need for further new recruits.

Those players already on the books must produce more than this.

The hope for Sheehan must be that after a disrupted pre-season for a number of his forward players, greater match sharpness will bring greater menace in the final third.

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Alan Sheehan rued Swansea City's lack of attacking threat as they were beaten at Middlesbrough on the opening day of the Championship season.

Swansea lost a game of a few chances courtesy of a set-piece goal from Boro centre-back Dael Fry early in the second half.

Sheehan's team created little, with their best sights of goal coming before the break when Liam Cullen's header from a tight angle was saved by home keeper Sol Brynn and Ronald flashed wide from distance.

The Swansea head coach acknowledged that his had side struggled in the final third, particularly after the home side went in front.

"We really lacked an attacking threat after they scored," said Sheehan, who is keen to strengthen his forward options in what remains of the transfer window.

"When we went behind, we took a while to recover, to get into our flow again.

"We tried to change the impetus, we made a few changes, but we didn't create enough."

Swansea gave full debuts to Cameron Burgess and Ethan Galbraith, while fellow summer signings Zeidane Inoussa, Melker Widell and Kaelan Casey came off the bench to make their first appearances for the club.

Casey replaced club skipper Ben Cabango, who played 75 minutes despite missing much of pre-season with a calf injury.

"Ben played as long as he could which was excellent for us - this is his mini-pre-season now," Sheehan said.

"He is a warrior for us. He leads the backline, him and Cameron. I thought the defence looked very solid."

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Alan Sheehan says Swansea City must contend with opening-day emotion as they begin the new Championship season at Middlesbrough today (15:00 BST).

Swansea's visit to Teesside marks the start of a new era for Boro following the summer appointment of Rob Edwards as head coach.

The former Wales international, who had been out of work since leaving Luton Town in January, took charge on a three-year deal following the dismissal of Michael Carrick.

Like Swansea, Boro are a club with work to do in the transfer market, with only three signings made so far this summer.

But Sheehan says his team must be prepared for a buoyant Riverside atmosphere as they look to start 2025-26 on a positive note.

"We had wonderful momentum last year, when we built good confidence within the group," Sheehan said.

"We want to be as competitive as we can at Middlesbrough.

"I think it will be a hard challenge. They have a new manager so it will be an emotional atmosphere at the start."

Swansea took 24 points from 13 games under Sheehan following the departure of Luke Williams in February.

The fine end to what had been a tricky season was enough to see Sheehan land his first permanent head coach role.

While the aim is to improve on last season's 11th-place finish, Swansea's squad looks light in a number of areas.

And Sheehan has warned that even the recruits who have arrived will need time to get to grips with the Championship.

"We want to evolve [this season]," he added.

"But we have new faces in the building so it's how we integrate these players into this system."

Rob Edwards makes his league debut as Middlesbrough head coach on Saturday (15:00 BST) as they host Swansea City.

The former Luton Town boss was appointed in June following the dismissal of Michael Carrick and will have promotion expectations on his shoulders after the club failed to break into the top six last season.

Meanwhile, the Swans will be hoping to reap revenge on the Teesside club for last year's opener, which Boro won with a penalty.

• Middlesbrough have won each of their last five home league games against Swansea City, with four of those victories coming via a one-goal margin.

• Swansea City won their last league game against Middlesbrough and will be looking to win successive matches against Boro for the first time since June 2020.

• Middlesbrough beat Swansea on MD1 of the last Championship season and will be looking to win back-to-back opening matches of a league season for the first time since 1994.

• Swansea have failed to win any of their last four opening day fixtures (D2 L2), with both defeats during that time coming on the road via one-goal margin.

• Middlesbrough's Riley McGree has struck three goals across his prior five league appearances against Swansea, his most against any side in the EFL.

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Cameron Burgess believes he can achieve further success at Swansea City having helped former club Ipswich Town reach the Premier League.

Australia centre-back Burgess was an Ipswich regular as the East Anglian club claimed promotion from League One in 2022-23 and then finished second in the Championship the following season.

He played 18 times in the Premier League last term as Ipswich were relegated but, with his Portman Road contract up in the summer, opted to join Swansea on a three-year deal.

Asked to explain the decision to swap Suffolk for south Wales, Burgess said: "I feel like I can contribute here. I know where the club wants to go and I feel like I can be a really big part of that.

"It was a really tough decision [to leave Ipswich]. I had four really amazing years there.

"But there are a lot of things to consider in a player's career and I felt this was the right team for me. Hopefully we can replicate some of the memories [from Ipswich] here."

Burgess will make his competitive Swansea debut as Alan Sheehan's team begin 2025-26 with a trip to Middlesbrough on Saturday.

While there is work for Swansea to do in the transfer market, former Fulham youngster Burgess says Sheehan's squad has the same kind of "culture, team spirit and work ethic" that brought Ipswich success.

And he sees "progress from last season" as the goal for the upcoming campaign, with Swansea aiming to improve on an 11th-place finish last May.

"If we can do that, it's a successful season," Burgess added.

"The club have made steps forward off the pitch and it's time to replicate that on the pitch."

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Alan Sheehan says Swansea City will "wait and see" whether Ben Cabango can feature in their Championship opener at Middlesbrough on Saturday.

Club captain Cabango's pre-season has been badly disrupted by a calf injury picked up during Swansea's training camp in Spain.

But the 25-year-old centre-back has taken some part in training this week, which is a welcome boost given Swansea's shortage of options.

Fellow defender Ricardo Santos is sidelined by a knee injury suffered in the friendly at Cheltenham, while promising youngster Filip Lissah has an ankle issue.

That leaves Cameron Burgess and fellow summer signing Kaelan Casey, who only arrived on loan from West Ham on Wednesday, as Sheehan's fully fit central defensive options on the eve of the new season.

Swansea are also monitoring the fitness of winger Zeidane Inoussa, another of their summer recruits, as he recovers from a stress fracture suffered at former club Hacken.

Sheehan said Eom Jisung is "not 100%" going into Boro because of a pre-season ankle problem, while striker Zan Vipotnik has missed training because of a toe injury.

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Ben Lloyd has been challenged to be Newport County's star man after joining on loan from Swansea City.

The 20-year-old midfielder will spend the season with the Exiles and has already made two starts.

Lloyd has made just a pair of brief appearances off the bench for Championship side Swansea, but he will now try to follow in the footsteps of Ollie Cooper and Brandon Cooper by heading east to impress in Newport with the League Two side.

"He can learn a lot," said Swansea head coach Alan Sheehan. "He's got to go there with the mentality of being the best player.

"Yes, he is from a Championship club but he's got to go down there and be the best player, on and off the pitch.

"He's got to be a role model, be a good example, show the work ethic and the grit to be a professional footballer and prove himself at that level.

"After that you move onto the next level and that's the goal for a lot of young players here."

Meanwhile, Newport midfielder Riley Lonergan has joined Cardiff Met on loan.

The teenager, who signed a first professional contract in the summer, will get a taste of senior men's football in the Cymru Premier until 12 January.

Lonergan is yet to make his Newport first-team debut after being an unused substitute in the League Two game at Fleetwood Town in the penultimate game of last season.