Brian Laudrup downplays impact of travel woes

Swansea’s preparations for their final Europa League Group A game against St Gallen were heavily disrupted as a combination of poor weather and technical problems resulted in a nightmare 12-hour journey to Switzerland.

The Welsh club had been due to fly from Cardiff Airport at 10am yesterday, but fog caused an initial delay. A technical fault with their plane then ensured the Swans squad did not take off for Switzerland until 5pm. They eventually landed in Zurich at 8pm local time before going on to St Gallen by coach.

It meant Swansea were unable to train at St Gallen’s AFG Arena ahead of this evening’s fixture, where they hope to secure their place in the knockout phase. They will be guarantee a spot in the last 32 if they avoid defeat in Switzerland, while a loss could still see them advance if Kuban Krasnodar do not claim three points at group winners Valencia and overturn a goal difference deficit of three.

Swansea and Kuban have identical head-to-head records after playing out two 1-1 draws in the group, with the Russian club scoring stoppage-time equalisers on both occasions.

Disruption
Swansea manager Michael Laudrup admitted the disruption was far from ideal: "We cannot control everything, especially the weather. It is a very long day for the team.If it's possible we will do some things on Thursday just to get them moving. Of course, it's not ideal but let's not make it more dramatic than it is."

Laudrup confirmed striker Wilfried Bony had travelled as he recovers from an ankle injury, while goalkeeper Michel Vorm was also among the squad despite carrying a knee injury which will ultimately require surgery. Leon Britton is out with a broken toe, but Michu could play a part having made his comeback from an ankle problem against Hull on Monday.