Swansea City chief makes cheeky Oliver McBurnie joke as Hull City look to return to winning ways

The Swans have a win and draw from their opening two home games so far

Alan Sheehan is keen to get Swansea City's supporters off their seats early when they host Hull City on Saturday, and do something they've not yet done.

All four of the Swans' goals have come in the second half of games so far this season, but Sheehan wants his side to end that run and get ahead early, hinting that he expects a 'difficult' game against Sergej Jakirovic's side.

The Tigers, meanwhile, have scored twice inside the opening few seconds both in the win over Oxford United and defeat at Bristol City last time out before the international break.

"Difficult game, a difficult Championship game," Sheehan said. "They've had some high-scoring games so far this season. A new manager, different to the one we came up against at the end of last season, around Easter time (1-0 win vs Ruben Selles' side on Good Friday). Yes, a difficult game, a very difficult game, but it will be great to get back out in front of our fans again and hopefully get them involved in the game early."

He also refused to be drawn on striker Oli McBurnie. The forward, who joined City in the summer, was a target for Sheehan's side before he moved to the MKM Stadium.

"Who is he? No idea who that is," the Irishman said with a smirk when he was questioned about McBurnie. "Who is it? McBurnie? I know Oli, yeah. Yes, decent player."

Sheehan, meanwhile, confirmed that ex-City target Manuel Benson could be in line to make his debut against the side that tried to sign him from Burnley in January 2024, while striker Adam Idah and Ishe Samuels-Smith could be handed first outings. The hosts will, however, be without Jay Fulton and Marko Stamenic through groin injuries.

“Manuel played some minutes for Angola against Mauritius the other night, and this was his first day at the football club,” the former Notts County star said.

“He is a player who gives us something different, we will have to get him up to speed gradually, but hopefully we may be able to have him involved for Saturday.

“Adam is fine, he trained very well and it’s good when new players come in and you get the positive reaction from their teammates. Ishe is a young player, but he is very talented and very highly-rated and he brings wonderful competition for the team.”

“We have got a couple out, obviously Jay is still out, as is Ricardo Santos. Marko Stamenic felt something in his groin at Sheffield Wednesday. He’s an honest guy so he travelled halfway round the world to pull out of training with New Zealand.

“We have had that scanned and he will definitely miss the weekend, which is disappointing as he has shown how important he is over the last couple of games.”

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