Stoke City v Swansea City: Monk eyes first Britannia Stadium success

Garry Monk is backing his Swansea City side to win at Stoke City for the first time in the Premier League when the two sides meet on Sunday.

The Welsh club have lost two and drawn one of their three top-flight matches at the Britannia Stadium since they were promoted from the Championship in 2011.

Swansea manager Monk is unperturbed by that record and is adamant that his side ought to have secured all three points when they were held to a 1-1 draw by Mark Hughes’ last season.

Monk’s men have made an encouraging start to the season, but two draws and as many defeats from their last four has stunted their early progress.

Stoke have won only twice in the league this term and Monk sees Sunday’s clash as an opportunity to claim a second away victory on the road of the season.

“It’s a game for us to try and get three points,” he said. “Stoke is never an easy place to go and we know we have never won there in the Premier League.

“However, we should have won the last time we played there in February so hopefully we can repeat that performance and get the victory.

“We have to go there with belief and impose ourselves on the game.”

Jonjo Shelvey is unavailable due to suspension, but Swansea will welcome back full-back Angel Rangel after he sat out the 2-2 draw with Newcastle United last time out due a ban.

Knee-injury victims Leon Britton and Jordi Amat remain sidelined along with Dwight Tiendalli (groin).

Victor Moses and Mame Biram Diouf have been passed fit for Sunday’s game after recovering from groin and hamstring injuries respectively.

And Stoke boss Hughes believes the return of on-loan winger Moses could be crucial for his side as he looks for a response following a 3-1 defeat at Sunderland last time out.

The Welshman said: “Victor and Mame have been doing okay, they didn’t go away on international duty so they have been given plenty of work and we know that they are fit and ready for the game this weekend.

“A lot of our good work has been coming through Victor and it’s good to get him back because he will always cause one or two problems for the opposition.”

Midfielder Glenn Whelan is rated as doubtful after taking a knock in Republic of Ireland’s 1-1 draw with Germany, so Steve Sidwell could come into the starting line-up.

Geoff Cameron is back in contention after recovering from a hernia operation, but Nigeria striker Peter Odemwingie is still sidelined with a knee injury.

Swansea will be wary of the threat posed by Peter Crouch, as the big striker has scored four goals in his last five games against the Liberty Stadium outfit.