Swansea City trio in contention for Nottingham Forest as Sheehan makes recruitment admission

The Swans boss says three of his new signings could well be in contention for Wednesday's visit of Nottingham Forest

Alan Sheehan says all three of Swansea City's deadline-day signings are all in his thinking ahead of Wednesday night's Carabao Cup clash with Nottingham Forest.

Adam Idah came off the bench in the second half of Saturday's 2-2 draw with Hull City, while Ishe Samuels-Smith and Manuel Benson were also among the substitutes on the day.

Sheehan admits striker Idah, who signed for an eye-catching £6m on the final day of the summer window "could" start on the night, and also insists he would have no issue in potentially throwing young Samuels-Smith into fray. Sign up to our Swansea City newsletter here.

The 19-year-old arrived on loan from Chelsea having yet to make an appearance in senior club football, but the Irishman hasn't ruled out the possibility of him being involved against the Premier League outfit, who will be led by former Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou.

"He's a player that's rated incredibly well and we have to bring in these players to obviously have a look at them," Sheehan said when asked about the possibility of the teenager being involved. "We want to see where they're at. We want to develop them. These games, as well as the Championship games, are why these players have been brought in."

Benson, meanwhile, arrives having played just 160 minutes of club football since last August, but did get 81 minutes for Angola in the most recent international break.

However, there's still a chance he too could be handed a role against Forest.

"He played for Angola against Mauritius and then the travel coming back, so in terms of his first day with the football club was really on the Friday," he added. "So to throw him straight in and on the bench.

"But Manuel is someone that's trained very well in the last couple of days, so he will definitely play minutes for us. Whether it's in this game or the next, we'll see Wednesday.

"I think everybody is really [in contention]. I think we've got two games in I think just over 60 hours, but it's a very fine turnaround really in terms of how we be as competitive as we can be, but without flogging them. The way we want to play, how we want to be and to do two games in quick succession, you have to be a certain way, a certain level.

"But there are still some people getting up to speed. But everybody is in my thoughts."

Marko Stamenic, however, won't be in Sheehan's thoughts on this occasion. The midfielder set to miss out due to the groin injury that kept him out of Saturday's draw with the Tigers.

Ricardo Santos and Jay Fulton are also ruled out.

Meanwhile, Sheehan says he's not thinking about recent goings-on behind the scenes, with the dust now settled on director of football Richard Montague's exit, which was confirmed on the eve of Saturday's stalemate with the Tigers.

It was a move that clearly came as a surprise to many supporters, but Sheehan has reiterated that his focus remains on getting his team prepared for what looks a potentially gruelling run-in.

"Everybody is entitled to feel," he added when quizzed on that point. "We can't tell anybody how to feel, but like I've said on numerous occasions, my focus as head coach is on the pitch and the on the players and improving them. Then getting ready for the two games."

As well as Montague, several members of Swansea's scouting department have also left, including head of scouting James Morgan-Snowley, who arrived from Rangers nine months ago.

"It's been a good window in terms of the players that we brought in," Sheehan continued when asked about their departures.

"The results have been good. Sign up to the Swansea City WhatsApp service to get breaking news and top stories sent to your phone.

"It wasn't perfect, but ultimately now it's all about gelling them together and getting the players brought in to build up this culture, build up this environment to hopefully make us a competitive team in the Championship."

Asked if an overhaul of the recruiting department, which is set to be spearheaded by head of recruitment Adam Worth, was on the horizon, he added: "I honestly don't know. That's up to the ownership in the recruitment department and everything.

"As the head coach, you run different departments. My department is to run what happens on the football pitch, and the day-to-day training, and that's a big job.

"That's why we work so hard as a staff here, to make sure that we are prepared for every game and with two games in such a short period of time. To navigate myself away from that would be quite naïve I think."

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