Russell Martin has a full compliment at his disposal to take on Cardiff City on Sunday with Swansea City hoping to push the Bluebirds closer to the relegation zone.

Neither club have made a sparkling start to the season but Martin is receiving patience from the Swans' board and fan base to implement his bold style of play. Martin gave a positive update on the squad's fitness when he spoke to the club's media team in his pre-match press conference.

Martin said: "I'm in a rare position for a manager in that everyone’s fit. Everyone’s trained. It’s down to a lot of hard work from the sports science and medical team."

It finished 1-1 in terms of bragging rights in the South Wales derby last season, it will be interesting if the return of supporters to stadiums can make the difference this time around.

The Bluebirds arrive at the Swansea.com Stadium off the back of five straight defeats with much of the fan base turning on Mick McCarthy at the helm. Cardiff's only source of goals came from Sean Morrison at a corner in that stretch and so the Swans will be very confident of dominating the game from open play on Sunday.

The Verdict

 

 

It is a huge boost for Swansea that there are no fitness concerns following the international break, preparing for the run up to the busy Christmas period with a fully fit squad has to be an advantage and one that Martin will be keen to utilise for them to climb the table.

The Swans were losing play-off finalists last season, and so the bar was set very high by now Nottingham Forest manager Steve Cooper, therefore if Martin suffers a defeat in the derby a portion of the fan base could become frustrated with the time it is taking to get his ideas across.

All the scrutiny is on McCarthy and Cardiff going into this one and the Swans will hope that gives them a leg up at lunchtime on Sunday.