Swansea City will be without Matt Grimes for Saturday's clash with Wigan Athletic.
The club captain was shown his fifth yellow card of the campaign in Tuesday night's 1-0 loss to Preston North End at Deepdale, meaning he is required to serve a one-game ban. It leaves Swansea desperately thin on options in central midfield given that Liam Walsh and summer signing Joe Allen remain sidelined due to injury.
Ollie Cooper and Olivier Ntcham are both capable of dropping into a deeper role to fill the void left by Grimes, who has played every single minute of Championship action under Russell Martin since the head coach joined from MK Dons in August 2021.
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Indeed, Grimes has not missed any league action since Swansea's loss to Watford on the final day of the 2020/21 regular season, a run which stretches back 67 games, with the play-offs under Steve Cooper included.
Martin could not hide his disappointment with the loss of his key midfielder for Saturday's fixture at the Swansea.com Stadium.
"Really disappointing," he said. "We shouldn't give the ball away, and he's then had to try and smooth out a counter attack. He's been outstanding. He'll be a miss for us on Saturday. But we've got Jay Fulton who has been incredible.
"I just said to the players in the dressing room, what an example for the young players in terms of a reaction to disappointment from last season. Nothing but admiration for Jay and what he's doing this season for us in a few positions.
"We'll be fine. We've got other people to come in. He'll be a loss because Grimesy, for me, has taken his game to the next level this season, especially in this run of games. He dictates so much, he's so calm and the players trust him so much. I'm disappointed for us and for Grimesy in particular because he doesn't miss any games, really. We have to win for him, and he'll be ready to come back in straight after."
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Joel Latibeaudiere, Michael Obafemi, Fulton and Matty Sorinola are all one booking away from a one-match ban. The English Football League's first amnesty period for suspensions kicks in following Saturday's contest with the Latics.
It means the aforementioned players will not receive a one-game ban unless they go on to accumulate 10 bookings before game week 37, providing that they escape being cautioned against Wigan.
Swansea have won their last four home matches, with Wigan being the final side they face in south Wales before the World Cup break.
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