Spanish eyes are smiling
As you are all well aware by now, the boys have just come back from a four-day training camp in Spain which was a huge success.
We flew out on Sunday with three more points in the bag after our hard-earned victory at Huddersfield - and the timing of the break couldn't have been better.
If I'm honest, the boys were on the verge of suffering from fatigue - both mentally and physically - after an intense period which has seen them play something like nine games in 36 days.
Such an intense period saw us pick up quite a few injuries and little knocks which were starting to stretch our squad to its limits. So to take some time out from the rigors of the league was more than welcome.
Apart from the usual light training sessions, we watched Barcelona train and then play against Celtic in the Champions League at the Nou Camp; played against Espanyol in a training match and had two sessions in the aquatonic and hydrotherapy pools and massage centre.
The hydrotherapy and massage sessions, in particular, helped reverse that feeling of fatigue and the lads returned to Swansea on Wednesday night fully energized again and totally refreshed for the final challenge ahead.
I'll probably need another page if I went into detail about the long list of injuries we've got at the moment, so here's a brief update instead - in no particular order.
Guillem Bauza (groin) and Owain Tudur Jones (knee) both completed an intense four-day training programme in Spain where I was able to work closely with them on a one-to-one basis.
I'm glad to say that both players should be available for tonight's game.
Andy Robinson was also able to use the hydrotherapy facilities in Spain to speed up his recovery from a knee injury that saw him limp off at half-time in the 1-0 win at Huddersfield. It means Robbo should also be available for tonight.
As for those players left behind, Garry Monk is still struggling with a lower back problem. While it's slowly getting better, at the time of writing he was in a race against time for tonight and is probably targeting Tranmere on Tuesday.
Jason Scotland should be fine for tonight after being stretchered off at Huddersfield. We thought he had broken and dislocated his toe, but the x-ray revealed there was no fracture and with a bit of strapping he should be able to continue his impressive scoring form tonight.
Dennis Lawrence (knee) and Paul Anderson (hamstring) are progressing well and have a chance of making comebacks at Northampton next Saturday, while Marcos Painter (hamstring) is still another two to three weeks away with Andrea Orlandi (knee) close behind.














