These are your Swansea City headlines on Friday, April 28.
Argyle boss makes Morgan Whittaker admission
The Swansea winger made a midweek trip to the South West to watch former side Plymouth Argyle beat Bristol Rovers 2-0 on Tuesday night to remain top of League One.
Whittaker was a key man for Steven Schumacher’s team prior to being recalled by the Swans in January, bagging nine goals and seven assists in 25 league games for the Pilgrims and establishing himself as a firm fan favourite.
When asked about his visit, the Argyle boss said: "He didn't have a game himself on Tuesday night for Swansea. He asked could he come down and watch the game and we got him some tickets. It was great to see him. He has obviously played a huge part in our success this year and helped us get to where we have got to in the league.
READ MORE: Swansea City's biggest contract concern of all and the massive impact lack of clarity will have
“He saw a few of the lads after the game and saw me in the players' lounge. It was nice to say hello. He enjoyed his time here, we get on really well. He was a brilliant player for us. I think he wanted to just come down and say hello.”
During the game, Whittaker was sat next to Argyle's head of recruitment Jimmy Dickinson in the directors' box, and close to other key figures at the club.
Asked whether the youngster could make a return to Devon in the summer, Schumacher replied: "If we could afford him we would love to sign Morgan Whittaker. He's a top player, but we would only be in that position if we get to where we want to get to.
"He just came down to say hello, there wasn't any other ulterior motive in that. It was just good to see him. If we were in the realms of being able to bring him back to the club then we would because we think he could do a job in the Championship in the way we play.
"He has still got a contract with Swansea. I don't know exactly what happened in January, whether he was going to leave or not to somebody else. I don't know what anybody else bid. I'm not aware of any of that. I just wanted to say hello to him (on Tuesday). It was good to see him.
"He really enjoyed it here. He has come out and said he wanted to stay here and finish the season off but he wasn't able to do that. He just wanted to come back and say hello to the lads. That's literally all it was."
Rangers to come back in for Whittaker
Meanwhile, Gers boss Michael Beale will make a fresh summer approach to lure Whittaker north of the border, according to the Daily Record.
Upon his return to south Wales from Plymouth, the former Derby County man made no secret of his disappointment at seeing his time at Home Park cut short and after the failure to agree a deal with Rangers, it was expected that Whittaker would get a run of games in SA1. However, minutes have since been hard to come by, despite him knuckling down, with him completing a full 90 minutes just twice and his only goal since his return coming in one of those games, a 3-1 loss at home to Stoke.
It remains to be seen how this lack of game-time will have affected Whittaker’s stock and therefore the sort of fee Swansea can command in the summer but, with two years left on his deal, the club could be expecting at least a figure similar to Rangers’ January proposal, which was believed to be around the £2million mark.
It sounds like he could be a wanted man this summer.
Midfield pair ruled out of Hull clash
Russell Martin has confirmed midfielders Jay Fulton and Liam Walsh will miss tomorrow’s trip to the MKM Stadium with minor knocks.
Speaking ahead of the game, Martin said: “Obviously we have no Joe Allen through suspension, there is no Jay Fulton either unfortunately.
“Jay has been battling a tight calf for a few weeks and it has caught up with him a little bit, and there is no point in risking him and potentially making it much worse ahead of the summer.
“He will hopefully be back for next week against West Brom but we will have to wait and assess that. It’s the same with Liam Walsh, but apart from that everyone is good.
“With Walshy it is a small strain and just general fatigue after so long out, and with his injury history we have to be careful.”
Steven Benda also remains out with a knee injury.
Play-off hopes not on Martin’s mind…
The 37-year-old head coach was also asked about the unlikely prospect of Swansea overcoming the sizeable odds against them to nick a last-minute play-off spot, and played down his side’s chances.
“Until they're mathematically not (able to), I guess they are, but it's a lot of work to do and a lot of different permutations to unfold. It's not something we're really focused on I think,” he said.
“We're focused on performances, and we're focused on trying to carry on this run. To win two more games and to play with the same courage and intensity, they've played with for however long now.
“It's been amazing to watch the growth of the team. I've watched with so much pride and gratitude for the past six weeks really. To do what they're doing at the moment in this league isn't easy.
“I've been so impressed by them, and I've had a lot of fun watching them and they're having a lot of fun on the pitch. I think that shows. Hopefully the supporters are having a lot of fun in the stands too.”
…But he admits a win could be ‘exciting’
Despite cooling expectations, he hopes that three points tomorrow can give the fans a late-season thrill.
“That will keep it exciting for people, won't it? I think that's our job to go and try and do that. We just want to win. We're going to a Hull team that have good home form,” he said.
“Liam (Rosenior)’s done a really good job there. They play a really good style of football. Not too dissimilar to us, albeit a bit earlier on in their journey in terms of the way they're going to do things and their identity.
“When you're playing against teams with nothing to play for it can go one of two ways. They can play with the shackles off and you see some weird results for these teams. Or the other way. But their players are fighting.
“You can see it. They want to be part of the plans for next year. It'll be a tough game. But one I'm really excited about because of the zone we're in and the feeling we have in the group.”
READ MORE:
