Swansea City head coach Russell Martin has revealed that Joe Allen will not be fit enough to start for the club in their clash with Rotherham United this weekend.

Allen suffered an injury earlier this year after helping Wales qualify for the World Cup.

The midfielder opted against extending his stay at Stoke City in order to seal a return to Swansea earlier this month.

Set to remain at the Swansea.com Stadium until 2024, Allen will be determined to help the club reach new heights in the Championship during the upcoming campaign.

With Allen set to be eased into action, the Jacks may opt to utilise Jay Fulton and Matt Grimes in the heart of midfield in Saturday's showdown with the Millers.

Harry Darling, Nathan Wood and Matthew Sorinola could also be handed the chance to impress in this fixture after securing moves to the club in the current transfer window.

Ahead of his side's showdown with Rotherham, Martin has shared an update on Allen.

Speaking to BBC Radio Wales (as cited by Wales Online) about the midfielder, Martin said: "I don't think he'll be ready to start this weekend, no.

"I think there's a thing around Joe where some expect him to be injured a bit, but not at all.

"I think he played 53 games last season, which is more than Flynn Downes did for us."

 

 

Martin later added: "He's really happy to be back.

"We don't want to rush him.

"We maybe could have rushed him to start this weekend, but then you run the risk of losing him further forward.

"It's a really, really long season, so we'd rather he maybe miss this one, so that he's available for a later one."

The Verdict

This is a sensible stance to take regarding Allen as Swansea shouldn't be looking to take risks on players in the opening fixture of the season.

By giving the 32-year-old some time to build up his fitness, he may be able to make a positive impact for Swansea when he is ready to start games.

When you consider that Allen has played 227 games in the Championship during his career, he clearly knows exactly what it takes to succeed at this level and thus could become a key player for the Jacks in the coming months.

Providing that Swansea are able to beat Rotherham on Saturday, they could use the confidence gained from this result to their advantage by securing some positive results in August.