The match pack for Sunday's Premier League clash between Swansea City and Middlesbrough.
The game kicks off at 1330 GMT at the Liberty Stadium, live on Sky Sports 1 HD.
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Swansea City v Middlesbrough: Our prediction
David John writes...
It is a big few days ahead for second-bottom Middlesbrough if they want to keep spirits up in their bid to remain in the Premier League and they head to south Wales at a backable price for an ideal start.
The dour Aitor Karanka has dug them into a deep hole but those upstairs decided enough was enough and the effervescent Steve Agnew and a new coaching staff, including Jonathan Woodgate, have been tasked with saving the day.
It is a free roll of the dice for Agnew as Karanka will get the blame if they end up back in the Sky Bet Championship and the early signs were promising enough despite a 3-1 defeat at home to Manchester United.
The way Boro rallied in a bid to find an equaliser in the closing stages when 2-1 behind suggested this was a team that had not given up the fight despite having only won three early-round FA Cup matches since the turn of the year.
“The players are in good spirts,” Agnew revealed this week. “Their enthusiasm is top drawer and they are working as hard as they can.”
I fancy that rekindled positive approach will be converted into three points from what looks on paper a hard task at the Liberty Stadium.
Swansea made their move earlier to ship out a hapless Bob Bradley and the likeable Paul Clement’s more methodic, organised approach has yielded four wins from 10 and lifted them out of danger for the time being.
Back-to-back defeats though at Hull and Bournemouth – the latter was a surprisingly drab effort – has sucked them back toward the drop zone and a return home can’t come quickly enough having won three on the trot in front of their own fans.
I agree with Clement’s statement his side will be very well prepared and the return of Martin Olsson and Kyle Naughton on the flanks is a timely boost as the service they have delivered into the opposition box has been excellent so England call-up Ben Gibson and Bernardo Espinosa will have to be at the peak of their defensive powers.
The clock is not quite ready to chime midnight on Boro’s top-flight status but the time has arrived for Agnew and his staff to take a bolder approach away from home and that means getting striker Rudy Gestede involved from the start alongside Alvaro Negredo.
They need to start scoring some goals and I would play Adama Traore as well for good measure in a bid to win the game rather than go with the Karanka policy of trying to drag a classier side like Swansea down to their level in a bid to scratch out a point.
Hull and Burnley loom large on the horizon but that pair are for another day so I am going to take a punt on Boro’s renewed optimism counting for plenty in what would be a surprise outcome.
Prediction: Swansea 0-1 Middlesbrough
Swansea City v Middlesbrough: Team news
Central defender Daniel Ayala will return to the Middlesbrough squad for Sunday's crunch Premier League trip to Swansea.
Ayala, who has made just two league appearances since October because of injury and limped out of the 2-0 defeat at Stoke on March 4 with a hamstring problem, has returned to training and is in contention to play at Vicarage Road.
Uruguay striker Cristhian Stuani is also available after recovering from his exertions on international duty, but defenders George Friend (calf) and Calum Chambers (foot) are still out.
Swansea welcome back Kyle Naughton and Martin Olsson. Right-back Naughton has missed the last two games with a hamstring problem, while Olsson sat out the 2-0 defeat at Bournemouth before the international break due to an ankle injury.
Ki Sung-yueng, Jefferson Montero and Kristoffer Nordfeldt were the last three Swansea players to return from international duty and all are likely to be on the bench.
Swansea (from): Fabianski, Naughton, Fernandez, Mawson, Kingsley, Cork, Carroll, Fer, Routledge, Sigurdsson, Llorente, Nordfeldt, Amat, Van der Hoorn, Britton, Fulton, Ki, Montero, Ayew, Narsingh, Borja, McBurnie, Roberts.
Middlesbrough (from): Valdes, Guzan, Barragan, Fabio, Gibson, Espinosa, Ayala, Husband, Fry, De Roon, Clayton, Forshaw, Leadbitter, Guedioura, Downing, Stuani, Traore, Fischer, Negredo, Gestede, Bamford.
Swansea City v Middlesbrough: Manager quotes
Paul Clement (Swansea City)
On relegation fears: "The highest number of points a team has gone down with is 42 so we need more than that.
"There is pressure (in the run-in), we all feel it, but it should not be used as a negative. Pressure is a good thing, it keeps you alert and mind focused on the task at hand. And our task is to try and get more than those 42 points."
On Gylfi Sigurdsson: "It is good for a player to have ambition to play at the very highest level.
"I've no problem with Gylfi saying that because what I see in him is a player very motivated to play well here and help us remain in this league.
"I've had no conversation with him about going elsewhere. Everything has been about training hard and doing his best for Swansea every day.
"I see it in training, in the gym, in the video room. I see it in the extra work he puts in and, that for me, is no coincidence why he is such a good player.
"The top players have talent, but they also have an unbelievable work ethic.
"All the best players I have worked with have this work ethic and Gylfi has that."That will make him a target for others. It will always be the case for all clubs below the very top ones in Europe.
"Those clubs are always going to be looking for better players. It's no surprise."But we shouldn't worry about this. Our focus now is on preparing for Middlesbrough and the next nine games.
"After that it will be very clear what level we're playing at next season and what our plans will be."
On meetings with owners Steve Kaplan and Jason Levien: "I spent some time with Steve and Jason on their last trip here in January, but it was only brief.
"We've got some meetings planned looking at what we're doing at the moment and also in the medium term as well."
Steve Agnew (Middlesbrough)
On Ben Gibson: "He's the one who is level-headed, intelligent. For Ben to keep his feet on the ground is the easiest thing in the world, so no problem.
"I think Ben can go as far in his career as he wants to. He's driven - obviously his first thought now is Middlesbrough Football Club, he's a Middlesbrough boy and that's where he is now.
"I'm sure in the future, he will get more international recognition. The full cap is probably just around the corner and in terms of moving on or moving to bigger and better things, I certainly think Ben is more than capable."
On Jonathan Woodgate returning to the club as a coach: "He's a positive person, Jonathan. He comes in early on a morning and he leaves late at night.
"He's got a big smile on his face and his involvement with the players on the training ground, in the restaurant upstairs, up and down the corridors, as the rest of the staff are with everybody, is really, really positive."
Swansea City v Middlesbrough: Opta facts
Middlesbrough have lost three of their last four matches against the Swans in all competitions, but did beat Bob Bradley’s outfit in December 3-0.
Swansea City have won both of their last two home games against Middlesbrough in all competitions by a 1-0 scoreline. They have never kept three consecutive clean sheets against ‘Boro on home soil.
Middlesbrough’s win in the reverse fixture is the only time this season they’ve managed to score more than twice in a Premier League match.
Middlesbrough have averaged just 2.4 shots on target per match in the Premier League this season; a lower average than any other side in the big five European Leagues.
Swansea's Premier League games have seen a league-high 99 goals scored this season, while Middlesbrough’s matches have seen the fewest (53).
Middlesbrough have conceded just 33 goals this season in the Premier League – fewer than both Liverpool (36) and Arsenal (34) coming in to this matchday.
Middlesbrough have made the lowest proportion of passes in the final third of the pitch this season (24.5%), while Swansea are the third lowest in this category (28.1%).
Five different Middlesbrough games have ended 0-0 this season in the Premier League; more than any other team have been involved in.
Only Jermain Defoe (67% for Sunderland) has been involved in a higher proportion of their sides’ goals than Gylfi Sigurdsson for Swansea City in 2016-17 (53% - level with Lukaku at Everton).
Swansea have conceded 63 goals in the Premier League this season – the joint-fourth most by a side after 29 games in Premier League history.
Swansea City v Middlesbrough: Sky Bet odds
Swansea have hit a bit of sticky patch under new manager Paul Clement after losing their last two games but are odds-on at 19/20 with Sky Bet to return to form with three points at the Liberty Stadium. The wheels have come off Boro too with three Premier League defeats on the spin which leaves them second bottom and they can be backed at 3/1 for a vital victory with a draw on offer at 12/5. The visitors did manage to beat this rival 3-0 earlier in the campaign and a another such outcome is 50/1 while Alvaro Negredo netted a brace on that occasion – he is 14/1 to repeat the trick and 13/2 to be the first goalscorer.
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