Swansea City v West Brom: Curtis keen to get back to basics

Swansea City caretaker manager Alan Curtis says his side are getting back to basics as they attempt to bring their winless run to an end against West Brom.

The Welsh club welcome West Brom to the Liberty Stadium sitting two points adrift of safety having gone seven games without a win.

Curtis has been in charge of Swansea – who have won only one game in their last 14 matches in all competitions – for the last two matches, overseeing a 2-1 loss to Manchester City and a 0-0 draw with West Ham following Garry Monk’s departure.

Swansea parted company with Monk after a 3-0 home defeat to Leicester City on December 5.

Despite recent results, Curtis has been encouraged by Swansea’s performances and, ahead of Saturday’s encounter, he said: “There’s one win in 13 [in the league], so we need to win games. 

“The reality is, if that’s our ratio, there’s no wonder we’re in the bottom three.

“But the last few games we have played well and could have come away with six points. We have to go back to the basics of passing to another white shirt, move again and look for the next pass.

“We’ve had criticism of the way we played but it’s small steps and getting back to a possession-based game and we’ve done that in the last two games.

“If we can continue to go back to the principles that took us to this level and allowed us to prosper at this level I’m sure we can move forward.”

Swansea are still missing Franck Tabanou (thigh) and Eder (ankle) but Wayne Routledge is in training after missing the West Ham stalemate with a knee problem.

West Brom, who are without a win in four matches, will be without James McClean and Salomon Rondon – both suspended after being sent off in last weekend’s 2-1 home defeat to AFC Bournemouth.

However, midfielder Claudio Yacob is available for selection after returning from his native Argentina following a family bereavement

With a game against Newcastle United coming two days after their trip to south Wales, Pulis revealed he will rotate his squad to deal with the fixture congestion.

“We have two games in three days, so we’ll definitely rotate the squad,” Pulis said. “We will start with players at Swansea which we won’t start with against Newcastle.

“We will certainly rotate the side. It’s a chance to see one or two of them start.”

Key Opta Stats: 

– West Brom have won only one of their nine Premier League Boxing Day matches (W1 D2 L6).
– Wayne Routledge has scored three goals in the last three Premier League games between these two clubs at the Liberty Stadium; all coming in the first half.
– Swansea City have failed to score in eight Premier League games so far this season; more often than any other side.
– The Swans have won none of their last seven Premier League home games at the Liberty Stadium (D4 L3), failing to score in five of those matches.
– West Brom have gone four games without a victory in the Premier League (W0 D3 L1) – they have never failed to win in five successive league games under Tony Pulis.