These are your Swansea City headlines on Sunday, August 14.
Ogbene scores again
Rotherham United's Chiedozie Ogbene scored his third goal in as many games as The Millers thrashed Reading on Saturday.
Ogbene added the fourth in a 4-0 drubbing of the Royals, rounding the away keeper to slot home under pressure.
He already netted against Swansea on the opening day of the season - a reminder if Swans needed one of his talents. Head coach Russell Martin is fan of the Republic of Ireland man but remained coy about Swansea's interest, saying after the match on the opening day of the season: "He's at a club that really values him, he plays all the time, I've never spoken to the player in my life.
"He's done great with his career recently, with Ireland and everything, but, when someone is linked, in football, the perception and reality are often really far apart."
Laird to QPR to be done in 24 hours
Ethan Laird will formally complete his season-long loan move to QPR on Monday - prompting disbelief from Manchester United fans over his impending departure.
Laird, who spent a successful first half of the season with Swansea City last term, was due to join Watford for the 2022/23 campaign but a deal for the full-back fell through, with the Hornets not able to guarantee the youngster game-time following the signing of free agent Mario Gaspar from Villarreal.
Preston North End were said to be in the mix as well for the 21-year-old, but the Hoops have swooped and according to West London Sport the right-sided defender will undergo a medical tomorrow and be available for the Londoners' clash with Blackpool on Tuesday night.
Oba - it was the right decision
Swansea striker Michael Obafemi says laying off the ball for the winner against Blackpool was the best decision for the team.
Obafemi was selfless when through on goal, deciding to square the ball for the supporting Olivier Ntcham to net the late goal against the Tangerines.
And it's a decision he'll make again, despite a striker always wanting to score themselves.
“We have put a lot of work in on the training ground on our attacking game and we had chances. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a goal, but I was more than happy to set up the winner,” he said.
“I’ll be honest and say I did want to shoot, but I knew Oli was up with me and it was the right option to lay it off for him.
“You have to do what is best for the team, and the dressing room is buzzing after getting a win. We know we did not play our best football in the second half, we know there is still a lot to work on but we are happy with the win.
“Now we will look back on this game and see where we can improve and be ready for Millwall on Tuesday. We have not made the start we wanted but I am sure this win will give us a good boost and hopefully we can kick on from here.”
Appleton says they could have been three up
Blackpool boss Michael Appleton says his side should have been two or three goals up before Swansea snatched all three points at Bloomfield Road.
Swansea dominated the first half but the hosts had a strong period after the break but they couldn't make their superiority count at that point.
Appleton rued the respect they showed Swansea.
"It feels like not much more can go against us at this moment in time," he said.
"Looking back, we probably showed them a little bit too much respect in the first half. We weren't brave enough and aggressive enough and I thought when we turned the ball over we weren't clinical enough and were a little bit messy.
"We therefore made a change at half-time with Shayne coming on to give us a bit of pace and energy in the final third, and I thought we were fantastic in the second half. I think we could have been two or three up, given the chances we created, so to come away with nothing and lose the match in the way we did was a killer blow.
"For their goal, I think we were possibly a little naive at the back. We were trying to win the game, rather than protecting what we had. We're a young group, so things like that can happen but we'll learn from it. Having said that, Dom tried to do the right thing for the team, but it just didn't work for him. He recognised he was the last man and was in a bit of trouble, and he was caught in a really difficult situation."
Garrick impresses
Jordon Garrick started life on loan with Lincoln City in positive fashion.
The Swansea winger began the Imps' clash with Forest Green Rovers on the bench. The game ended 1-1, and Garrick's introduction from the sidelines proved a spark for the home side.
"A very promising debut from the on-loan Swansea player who added some much needed energy when the game began to drift in the first half," wrote our colleagues at LincolnshireLive, awarding Garrick a mark of seven out of 10 - the best-ranked player in the Imps' squad.
Kyle Joseph got 25 minutes for Oxford United in their 1-0 defeat to Bristol Rovers, while Morgan Whittaker got seven minutes for Plymouth Argyle.
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