Notts County vs Swansea City; The FA Cup Fourth Round
Notts County vs Swansea City. The FA Cup Fourth Round.
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Notts County v Swansea preview: Swans aim to avoid FA Cup upset
Saturday 27 January 2018 14:45, UK
Swansea will be looking to continue their positive form under Carlos Carvalhal when they travel to Notts County in the FA Cup fourth round on Saturday.
The Premier League side have only lost once since Carvalhal was appointed in late December and have won their last two matches against Wolves in the FA Cup and Liverpool in the league.
However, Notts County are second in League Two and manager Kevin Nolan hopes they can bring Swansea back down to earth after their win over Liverpool on Monday Night Football.
"Hopefully we can ruin their week," he said. "They will come here on a high after that victory. Their players and supporters will be absolutely buzzing.
"Why can't we win? It's 90 minutes. I don't fear anybody playing here at the Lane.
"Make no mistake, this is a tricky tie for them. They will be on the up just at the minute but we're ready and if we can get a bit of a help from Lady Luck who knows?"
Notts County will be looking to avoid a third straight home defeat, having lost their previous two matches to Exeter and Crawley.
Team news
Goalkeeper Ross Fitzsimons and defender Matty Virtue are both banned for Notts County after being sent off against Crawley.
Matt Tootle is also out after missing the last two games through illness.
Swansea will check on Tammy Abraham (hip) and Renato Sanches (hamstring) while Federico Fernandez will also be assessed after needing two stitches in a nose injury during Monday's win against Liverpool.
Carvalhal has promised changes and goalkeeper Kristoffer Nordfeldt, Kyle Bartley, Tom Carroll and Luciano Narsingh are all likely to start.
Opta stats
Notts County have reached the fifth round on just one occasion this century, beating Wigan Athletic 2-0 in a fourth-round replay in 2009/10.
The last time Swansea reached the fourth round was in 2014/15, losing to Championship side Blackburn 3-1 at Ewood Park. In fact, the Swans have been eliminated from two of their last three ties against lower league opponents.
After being eliminated in eight successive FA Cup ties against top-flight opposition, the Magpies have progressed in two of the last four - beating Wigan in 2010 and Sunderland in 2011.
Swansea City have won just eight competitive games all season so far - three of which have come against lower-league opposition in domestic cup competitions.