Will Cullen be beneficiary of Piroe’s Leeds United move

Liam Cullen is a man who this afternoon is likely to be given a chance to stake his claim for a more permanent starting berth with the forward being the man that will step into the team following the departure of Joel Piroe.

Cullen is set to start against Preston North End this afternoon as Michael Duff starts the post Piroe era with a new starting line up after being largely unchanged for the three league games to date.

Cullen is likely to play the deeper role behind Jerry Yates with on loan Arsenal midfielder Charlie Patino keeping his place meaning that both Ollie Cooper and Jamie Paterson will need to watch from the bench as Duff goes in search of a first league win in charge of the Swans.

Nathan Wood is another player who has been heavily linked with a transfer this week as Russell Martin looks to sign him for the second successive summer and this is likely to mean he will also sit out the game.   This will leave some choices for Duff with the possibility of Kyle Naughton coming in to retain a three man backline or the chance for Nathan Tjoe-A-On to be handed a debut and the Swans to move to a more traditional back four.   If the latter happens then it is assumed it will be Harrison Ashby moved into midfield but also the chance for Azeem Abdulai to be handed a league start.

“We have no new injuries,” said head coach Michael Duff.

“Josh Ginnelly has reported a bit of illness so we will have to see where he is at. We have also had Walshy back out on the grass, which is a positive.

“Gino is getting fitter and fitter, while Mykola (Kuharevich) and Nathan (Tjoe-A-On) had their first real minutes for the under-21s.”

Cullen will certainly be someone looking at today as a chance to be taken and he talked before the season started about hitting the ground running this season ” I’m on the back of scoring nine goals and receiving international call-ups so I just want to hit the ground running, pick up where I left off and hopefully I can start on a really positive note again this year.

“Individually and collectively, we need to get off to a good start. I think we were unbeaten in nine at the end of last season, so we’ve proven to ourselves that we can go and win games, compete and move up that table.

“So you just want to start well, carry that form on. At the moment though, we’re just looking to work hard, get as fit as we can and get used to the manager’s style so we’ll see where it takes us.”

Those nine goals were a big return for Cullen last season and whilst there have been transfer rumours linking him with a move away he is definitely happy to stay in Swansea and fight for his place hoping he can create more link moves like the one that set up Jerry Yates’s first goal for the club against Birmingham.

How he reacts to his likely start this afternoon remains to be seen but it is a chance for Liam and one he has to be determined to take.