Swansea City

Image source, Huw Evans Picture Agency

Boss Vitor Matos believes Liam Cullen has the right mindset to make a difference for Swansea City – whether as a starter or substitute.

The Wales international came off the bench to score his fifth goal of the season in Saturday's 2-0 Championship win against Stoke City, a terrific lob from almost halfway in added time.

Cullen also levelled in the closing stages of the draw against Preston at the end of February when he was a substitute.

The 26-year-old has started 14 of 33 appearances for the Swans in 2025-26.

"He's a really good option," said Matos. "Of course, he's not always happy that he needs to come off the bench to score but he has a top mentality.

"He is a winner, he wants to compete, play, score, assist and be influential. He is one of the most important players in the squad, I'm just lucky to have him in my dressing room and I like him a lot."

Matos is pleased that Cullen is not content with his number of starts, and thrilled by what the forward does whatever his role.

"He's always frustrated because he always wants to make an impact, and he wants to make an impact if he has five minutes or 95," added the head coach.

"That's the mindset you need to have and I just love that, it's the mentality we want in the squad because it's a long, long season with short time between games."

If this were next season, both these sides would still fancy getting in the Championship play-offs with the EFL announcing this week that six teams will qualify from next season, from third down to eighth place.

As it is, this is a meeting of 16th against 14th, who are respectively 10 and 11 points short of the top six.

• Swansea City have kept a clean sheet in their past two home league games against Stoke (W1 D1), having lost 3-1 in the previous two at the Liberty Stadium

• Stoke are looking for their first league double over Swansea since the 2021-22 campaign under Michael O'Neill.

• Swansea have picked up 23 points in their past nine home Championship matches (W7 D2), conceding just four goals. In their previous nine home games, the Swans won nine points and conceded 15 times.

• The Potters have lost six of their past 10 away Championship matches (W2 D2), scoring just six goals in total and failing to find the net in five of them.

• Since the start of the 2021-22 season, only Gustavo Hamer (38) has more Championship assists than Sorba Thomas (37), who has created a goal in his past two appearances for Stoke.

Image source, Shutterstock

Earlier we asked what you make of the news that, from next season, the Championship play-offs will be expanded to include the teams finishing seventh and eighth?

It was announced on Thursday morning that EFL clubs voted in favour of expanding the play-offs from four to six teams.

Here's a selection of your comments...

Josh, Derby: I don't believe this is necessary. I do think that the play-off format should be aligned throughout the top five leagues, but expanding isn't needed. Better distribution of the monies involved and establishing a clear matchday structure to balance various men's and women's leagues would be a better use of everyone's time. This strikes me undue American influence.

Callum, Dartford: I think it's a good thing so teams can push for promotion that thought they wouldn't get near the play-offs.

Cato, Sheffield: If we adopted it to this season, it means that eighth-placed Derby (on 51 points) have about as much a chance of going up as third-placed Millwall (on 63 points). Plus, to accommodate the extra games, would they extend the season into June? I don't like the idea of it at all, and I hope it's short-lived.

Steve, London: Another example of football being ruined, week by week. Don't you dare think about implementing VAR too.

Mark, Stafford: As a Stoke fan, I think it's good news. The season has come to a grinding halt due to being decimated by injuries. Add to that, the quality of what is coming down from the Premier League, it would mean upsets can happen and still allow teams in that mid-table race to dream of greater heights!

Richard, Stansted: Absolutely ridiculous. What is the point of a league format if you are going to make it a bigger lottery to include even more teams at the end of the season? It also brings teams that are even less ready to actually be in the Premier League into scope. But mostly it's the undermining of the league format which makes no sense. I'm a Derby fan - and we look like we would have a chance of benefiting from this if it were in place this season.

Andy, Nuneaton: Anything that expands the opportunities for those outside of the parachute teams is a good thing. We need to get away from this elite view of the Premier League. If it was up to them, they'd stop automatic promotion and relegation and have a system like Rugby Union, where it's based on meeting certain criteria. The eighth-placed club in the Championship getting to the PL? Bring it on!

Ron, Hayling: Money, Money, Money. Players complain about the amount of games they play with the league games and cup competitions so the intention is to play even more at the end of the season. Owners will make some money but that's all that matters!

Barry, Dartford: Yes it's a fantastic for everyone, all the small teams as well as the big boys, to have something to play for. It will give the end of the season something to look forward to.

Benjamin, Poole: I'm a Charlton fan, so it's unlikely we'll come 8th in the Championship any time soon, however, this is ridiculous. More pandering to Americans to make it more likely they'll make money, which is the only thing they care about. Sporting integrity out of the window again. Shame as I felt the Championship was the last bastion of quality and integrity combined. Game has gone.

Broughton, Derby: Absolute ridiculous, put it back to the old days of three straight up, no play-offs. If you don't make top-three you don't deserve to go up.

Julian, London: The worst decision from a footballing point of view ever! The National League teams have been trying to change their system to be like the current EFL system so it seems a very strange decision for the EFL to take. You can finish 8th after 46 games and still get promoted - sporting integrity has been totally lost with this decision. Money over integrity every time!

Image source, Getty Images

Swansea City's Easter Monday Championship match against promotion-chasing Middlesbrough has been given a new kick-off time after being chosen for live coverage by Sky Sports.

The match had originally been scheduled to start at 15:00 GMT on 6 April at the Swansea.com Stadium but will now move to the later time of 17:30.

Boro won the reverse fixture 1-0 in August with Dael Fry scoring the goal.

Image source, Huw Evans Picture Agency

Vitor Matos insists he will not let comprehensive defeat go to waste after Swansea City's 3-0 loss at high-flying Ipswich Town.

Anis Mehmeti, Ivan Azon and George Hirst struck as Swansea suffered the heaviest loss of Matos' reign.

The Swansea head coach accepted promotion-chasing Ipswich were the better team at Portman Road – but insisted his players should not simply put defeat behind them and move on.

"When you lose, you need always to learn," Matos said.

"It's important to learn what we can improve. Sometimes it's more important what you get out of a defeat than when you win.

"Ipswich are in the top spots in the league. We saw the reasons why and that's what we need to find ourselves when we need to compete against these teams."

After a three-game week which included Snoop Dogg's visit to Wales, Swansea have six days to prepare for their next fixture, which is at home to Stoke City.

The Ipswich reverse leaves the 16th-placed Swans 11 points adrift of the play-off places and 12 clear of the relegation zone – and seemingly heading for a finish somewhere in mid-table with 11 games remaining in 2025-26.

Matos says his focus is on ensuring his side produce an improved performance against the Potters.

"We need to train," he added.

"We need to put the players on the pitch, take the defeat out of their minds and their bodies and push ourselves.

"If we want to reach the level we want, we need to train and push hard. We have had good games before. We will do better games after this. We learn and move on."

Image source, Huw Evans Picture Agency

Vitor Matos felt Swansea City were beaten by the better team after they slipped to a 3-0 defeat at Ipswich Town.

Swansea's miserable away form continued as Ipswich boosted their top-two hopes with a comfortable victory at Portman Road.

Anis Mehmeti put the home side in front after only three minutes and Ivan Azon doubled the lead before half-time.

Although Matos' side improved after the break, George Hirst killed off any chance of a Swansea revival 16 minutes from time.

Championship top scorer Zan Vipotnik, who began on the bench, came closest to a Swansea goal when he hammered a free-kick against the bar in added time.

"Suffering the goal in the third minute of course influenced what comes after that," said Swansea head coach Matos.

"It's hard to come here. Ipswich are a well-organised team with a brilliant squad and a good manager. They were better than us.

"We knew the first minutes were important but they scored and we had to chase the game.

"We were not aggressive enough, we were not intense enough. With the ball we didn't find the right players to start the attack. Sometimes we had it but in the end there was no outcome."

Image source, Getty Images

Defeat was Swansea's ninth in their past 11 away league games.

That run contrasts sharply with their home form, with Matos' men unbeaten in nine league fixtures on their own patch.

They will be back at the Swansea.com Stadium when they return to action against Stoke City next Saturday.

Image source, Huw Evans Picture Agency

Vitor Matos is confident there will be no Snoop Dogg hangover when Swansea City face high-flying Ipswich Town on Saturday (15:00 GMT).

Swansea make the long trip to Portman Road at the end of a three-game week which has so far brought four points from home fixtures against Bristol City and Preston North End.

But this was no average Championship spell, with Swansea in the spotlight thanks to Snoop Dogg's visit to Wales.

The rap superstar, a co-owner of Swansea since last July, visited the club's training ground on Monday before some players were pictured at a party he hosted that night.

Snoop Dogg then watched Matos' side in action against Preston, meaning a run-of-the-mill second-tier fixture became headline news.

Despite the circus which came with Snoop's visit, Matos insists his players' focus is on Ipswich.

"There's nothing related with the past," Swansea's head coach said.

"We need to look to the next hurdle and the next one is Ipswich."

Having been relegated from the Premier League last season, Ipswich are firmly in the race for a return to the top flight.

Image source, Huw Evans Picture Agency

Kieran McKenna's side – who were 4-1 victors in Alan Sheehan's final game in charge of Swansea in November – are fourth in the table, six points adrift of the automatic promotion places with two games in hand.

They have lost only one of 16 home league fixtures this season, when Charlton claimed a shock 3-0 success in Suffolk in October.

Swansea, meanwhile, have struggled on their travels – but Matos insists they will go in search of victory.

"That's why we are here - we never change that," he said.

"I think they are one of the better teams in the league - that's what the table says as well - but that's good because that's what we want.

"You want to compete against everyone and this is another game to do that."

Image source, Coventry City FC

You might not hear the old terrace refrain of 'you're not fit to wear the shirt' as often as you used to, but it still has a better ring than 'the shirt's not fit for you to wear'.

Championship leaders Coventry City launched a new collection on Friday, proudly taking inspiration from a kit widely dubbed the 'Worst of All Time'.

A take on the club's infamous brown change strip worn away from Highfield Road from 1978 to 1981, the modern reinvention features what the club calls "a deeper chocolate plum colour with sky blue elements".

Many would suggest it sounds tastier than it looks.

But it's got us thinking... what are actually the worst EFL kits of all time? Let us know which of your club's shirts is hiding in the back of the wardrobe, or even if they were too ugly for you to even part money for them.

We'll collate a list of the biggest eyesores and will give you the chance to vote on the ghastliest of all next week.

Click here to let us know your suggestion, and you can even attach a picture if you really want to convey the horror.

Gareth Vincent
BBC Sport Wales

Image source, Huw Evans Picture Agency

Liam Cullen is used to autographs, though usually he is the one holding the pen.

It was a different story on Tuesday night, when Cullen scored a stoppage-time equaliser in Swansea City's draw with Preston North End and then received a pat on the back from Snoop Dogg.

On Monday, the rap superstar and Swansea co-owner visited the club's training ground, where he printed his own 'Snoop Dogg' jersey with the number 20 on the back.

The following night Snoop Dogg was in the Swansea dressing room come full-time, praising the character shown by Vitor Matos' team – and signing the shirt of Cullen, the club's actual number 20.

It was a special moment for Cullen, the Pembrokeshire-born academy product who joined Swansea as an eight-year-old.

And according to Matos, a point-winning goal on a big occasion was reward for Cullen's commitment to his club's cause.

"I like Liam a lot," Swansea's head coach said. "I have a problem because I like all the players a lot but I can only pick 11.

"But the good thing is that all of them are really professional and really Liam is one of those.

"He loves the club, born here, grew here. He has this mentality, which I love, that is if he's to play five minutes, he will play that five minutes trying to make an impact and trying to make that five minutes the best of his life.

"If it's 10 minutes it's 10. If it's 90, it's 90. That's why all the coaches love him, because he's the kind of player that we all like."

Image source, Huw Evans Picture Agency

Cullen was Swansea's 12-goal leading scorer last season, when he was used more often in a more advanced role than he has been in this campaign.

These days Cullen, who grew up as a striker, is regarded as an attacking midfield player who is capable of playing up front if required.

Unsurprisingly, given the fierce competition in Swansea's midfield, he has not always had the game-time he might have liked – but he remains an important figure in Matos' squad.

"[When] he's on the bench, we know that he has this mentality to try to change the direction of the game," Matos added.

"He had that as well with me in the Portsmouth game, when he scored as well. In other games he came on and created chances. In this game [against Preston] he created chances and scored.

"It's just a matter of how we can use him. I am really happy because he came on and scored and I think that's good for him especially, because he was wearing the same number as Snoop!"

Image source, Huw Evans Picture Agency

Vitor Matos says Ben Davies will always be welcome at Swansea City after the Wales defender watched Tuesday's draw with Preston North End from the directors' box.

Swansea head coach Matos spoke to Davies after the Preston game, but insists they did not discuss the idea of the Tottenham Hotspur player returning to his old club.

Davies sees his current Spurs contract expire at the end of the season and is currently sidelined because of a broken ankle.

The 32-year-old, who came through the Swansea academy, has connections with the Welsh club's current owners.

"I was really happy for him to be here, to speak with him," Matos said.

"[He is] someone from here and as well from the club. It's always nice to have this kind of connection with the players that have a past here.

"I think in the moment where he is [with injury], it's always good to have his friends around and feel comfortable wherever he goes, at home especially."

Image source, Huw Evans Picture Agency

As things stand, Davies will be a free agent at the end of the season, though it remains to be seen whether Tottenham will offer him the chance to extend his 12-year stay in London.

The Neath-born left-back or centre-back made 85 senior appearances for Swansea before leaving for Spurs in 2014.

When asked whether Davies could join the list of players who have rejoined former clubs, Matos added: "It's not the first time that it happened, that's true, [but] we didn't speak about that.

"I think more important is that he's having a good recovery and then he feels back again to his best shape.

"I think that's what everyone at the club and his friends want for him.

"We are here for whatever he needs from our side as well to help him because he's someone from the club who grew up here."

Ipswich Town are playing their first home league game in a month, having had three away matches since drawing with Preston at Portman Road on 31 January.

Swansea snatched a last-minute equaliser against Preston on Tuesday night to make it only two defeats from their past six outings but only West Brom (11) and Sheffield Wednesday (7) have won fewer than their 14 points away from home.

• Ipswich have won their past three league games against Swansea, as many as they had in their previous 12 (D4 L5).

• Swansea lost their past away league game against Ipswich in November 2023, but have not lost on consecutive visits to Portman Road since August 1959.

• Ipswich have lost just one of their 16 home league games this season (W10 D5), and are unbeaten in 10 since a 3-0 loss to Charlton in October (W7 D3).

• Swansea have lost eight of their past 10 away league games, winning the other two against Oxford in December and Watford in January.

• Ipswich's Jack Clarke has scored three goals in his past two home league games, while five of his eight overall home goals this season have been as a substitute.

Luke Hemmings
BBC Sport Wales

Image source, Huw Evans Agency

Vitor Matos said Swansea City fell short of their usual standards in the first half of their draw with Preston North End, but praised his players as they "found a way" to earn a point thanks to Liam Cullen's late goal.

A sell-out crowd of 20,233 was at the Swansea.com Stadium as rapper Snoop Dogg watched the Swans in the flesh for the first time since becoming a co-owner of the club last July.

However, Preston threatened to spoil the Snoop Dogg party after Daniel Jebbison forced the ball over the line midway through the first half, leaving Swansea struggling to establish any control.

"Preston were better than us in the first half. That's the truth," Matos said.

"We could not break their organisation, not finding the right player to start the attack. That created a little bit of sloppiness.

"We were two days in between [games]. Preston had one more day to recover, sometimes that makes a difference. They scored on our worst moment and from there we needed to build - not easy."

Swansea improved significantly after the break and their persistence was eventually rewarded in stoppage time when substitute Cullen headed home.

"I think the point was important," Matos said.

"Performance-wise, Preston were better in the first half, but in the second half we were better than them. We found more mobility.

"We were able to break their lines inside and outside and created several chances. We could have scored earlier, but we kept trying and in the end we got the reward we deserved.

"We found a way. I think the draw feels like a fair result."

The result leaves Preston with just one win in their past eight league matches, while Swansea will look to extend their unbeaten run to three games when they travel to promotion-chasing Ipswich Town on Saturday (15:00 GMT).

Image source, Huw Evans Picture Agency

Swansea head coach Vitor Matos admits a return to the Premier League is an "aim for the future".

The Swans continued their unbeaten run with a late equaliser against Preston North End on Tuesday night in front of superstar rapper Snoop Dogg.

The hip-hop legend is one of the club's co-owners and has boosted the profile of Swansea, who have been in the Championship since relegation from the Premier League in 2018.

"We need to build. The foundations need to be built. We need to find the spirit again," said Matos.

"It's a completely different world nowadays than before. To reinvent ourselves, that's what we are trying. Starting on the pitch, starting with the players, starting with the culture and moving on."

Matos took charge in November following the dismissal of Alan Sheehan, who had overseen just four wins in the club's opening 15 league matches.

Swansea have now taken 10 points from their last five fixtures, narrowing the gap to the Championship play-off places to eight points, and have enjoyed the buzz of a visit from Snoop.

"It's exciting times for the club. It's good to have someone like him involved, someone who has that kind of profile, who brings a lot of visibility as well," said Matos.

"That is just a good feeling. We are, as a club, trying to create something different and something special."

Image source, Huw Evans Picture Agency

Swansea City take on Preston North End on Tuesday (19:45 GMT) hoping another resilient defensive display will provide the foundation for more success on their own ground.

The Swans claimed a seventh victory in their past eight home games as Zan Vipotnik's goal proved decisive against Bristol City on Saturday.

But the latest triumph was not the result of a stellar showing in possession, with Swansea failing to reach the heights of numerous recent performances.

Instead, their ability to dig in and keep the Robins at bay proved critical as Swansea kept a seventh clean sheet in 17 Championship games since Matos took charge.

In the 16 league games this season before Matos' arrival, the Welsh club managed only three shutouts.

That improvement has, unsurprisingly, coincided with Swansea's significant upturn in results.

As his team look for another home success against a Preston side who are three points above them in the congested second-tier table, Matos says his rearguard deserve credit for the Bristol City win.

Image source, Huw Evans Picture Agency

"I think the back four was unbelievable. Vigs (Lawrence Vigouroux) as well in crucial moments, but the back four was outstanding," he said.

"The way they could control the physicality that they put on [and] the togetherness as well, because it's not about only the individual but how they can control the space, how they can control the runs in behind.

"They are working a lot on that, we are working a lot on that, and they deserve all the credit because when you have a front three who can press and a back four who can control the space, you have already 50% of the job done for yourself. I think that's what happened."

Matos could consider changes to freshen up his side against Preston, with Ronald and Liam Cullen among the contenders for a recall having begun on the bench last weekend.

But defensive alterations are unlikely, while Swansea will once again be without Marko Stamenic as the midfielder completes a two-match ban.