Town boss Kieran McKenna is pleased to be returning to home action after four away matches on the bounce as the Blues start a run of three fixtures at Portman Road by facing Swansea City, a team he believes will present a “top-tier challenge”.

The Blues go into the three home games - Hull City visit on Tuesday and Leicester are in Suffolk next Saturday - fourth in the table, two points behind Millwall in third, six off second-placed Middlesbrough and 11 from leaders Coventry but with two games in hand on all of those above them.

The Sky Blues host Stoke and the Tigers are at Portsmouth on Saturday afternoon with Boro away against Birmingham on Monday.

McKenna believes suggestions that the season is moving into its later stages are premature with Town still having 14 matches to play.

“I think there is still such a long way to go,” he said. “I know it sort of feels closer and everyone is waiting for that last bit, but [assistant manager] Martyn [Pert] said to me before Tuesday night that there’s a third of the season left.

“It’s an awful lot of games and I don’t think we are yet right in the spell of the last bit of the season where every game and looking at what the opponent does and how the teams around you are doing and how many points and all that. I don’t think we are there yet.

“We have seven games in 21 days, we just have to focus on each one, focus on our performances, deliver the performances by how well we prepare and how well we do our processes here and then go into each match, give everything and try and get the best result we can on the day, and then move onto the next one.

“I think if you look at our schedule, with the couple of games we have to catch up and the seven games in 21 days, this is not the time to be thinking about the league table at all.

“Probably when we get to the international break, at that point, with eight games left in a short space of time, maybe that’s the time we will look at where we are and think about what the run-in might look like.

“But honestly at the moment, it’s just about the next game. Saturday, learn from Wrexham, Tuesday, go to Watford and do the best we can, learn from that and now Swansea. There are no thoughts of anything else at the moment.”

Town’s promotion push this season has been built on their strong home record, only Coventry, 39, have picked up more than the Blues’ 36 points on their own turf, something which has been the case for most of McKenna’s time at the club.

“I think it would be fair to say that it’s not ’of late’,” he said. “I think we are looking at four and a half years that it’s been a pretty good place.

“I think we can give ourselves a little bit of an exception for the challenge of last year [in the Premier League].

“It’s a great stadium with great supporters, we’ve tried to make it a really good place for the players to play football and a positive attacking team and for the supporters to enjoy the football, as well as a hard place for opponents to come and play. Of course, it’s not always like that, but that’s how we want it to be.

“I think it’s going to be a really good game tomorrow, a big, big test for us all as I think we are facing a good side, but the focus is that we are back to our home ground and we are really looking forward to it.”

Swansea are 15th in the division but have won three of their last five, a 2-0 win at Watford followed by a 4-0 home victory over Sheffield Wednesday prior to a 2-0 loss at Derby, then a 1-0 success against Bristol City in South Wales, before drawing 1-1 with Preston at the Swansea.com Stadium on Tuesday.

However, only two Championship sides have picked up fewer points on the road this season, four wins, two draws and 10 defeats having yielded 14 points, although Oxford, also 14 points, have played two more away matches and West Brom, 11, and Wednesday, seven, have each played one more. The Swans have lost eight of their last 10 away in the Championship.

McKenna has been impressed with the Swans’ progress since Vitor Matos took over from Alan Sheehan, who was sacked soon after the Blues’ 4-1 win in South Wales in November.

“I think they have had a really good start,” he said. “I’ve been really impressed watching them. They played good football early in the season and they’ve brought in lots of good players over the last season or two. A lot from international markets who take a bit of time to settle, but I think they’ve got a really good and deep squad.

“I think the intensity they are playing at is really impressive. Their last 10 games or so, they are the team who have run the most in the league in most metrics. They are one of the top teams in terms of their pressing, counter-pressing and possession.

“I think we are facing a side tomorrow, in terms of playing style and the type of challenge it’s going to be, that will make it a really top-tier challenge. We know what that’s going to take - it’s going to take a huge amount of teamwork and effort, and the crowd is going to have to play a really big part in that.

“We have to be confident but also humble to know that it’s a really strong opponent and there are going to be phases in the game when we know we have to dig in and defend, and I think it’s going to be a really challenging game.

“We want to make it a really challenging game for them and we believe it will be and it should make for a good one.

“We have prepared as well as we can in the short time we have had since Tuesday and now it is about going into the stadium tomorrow and giving everything.”

Have the Swans, who are currently eight points off the top six, left it too late to make a play-off push?

“You’d have to tell me how far they are off the play-offs,” McKenna responded. “Honestly, I think it is so tight. I don’t look at it so I don’t know how far they are away and whether they have given themselves too much to do or not.

“What I can say, in terms of a stylistic and football challenge against a team that are playing with a top intensity off the ball and with a really good structure, bravery and positivity on the ball, and a talented group, I think they are one of the better sides in the league currently for sure.

“That’s going to give us a really good test tomorrow and a really good challenge. Playing in that type of game will give us some opportunities as well and I think that’s what we are facing tomorrow. It is up to us to try and overcome that.

“The race for play-offs and positions, everyone is so tight. I’m sure their manager will have an opinion on what their goals are.”

Former Town defender Cameron Burgess was unfortunate to net two own goals in the Blues’ win at the Swansea.com Stadium and McKenna says he caught up with the Australian international after that match.

“I spoke to him for a good bit in the tunnel after the game,” he said. “We know what a good player Cameron is, everyone at Portman Road knows what a threat he can be in our box and how well he has developed his game over the last couple of years is really clear.

“He is a very good player and a very good guy. Like I say in all these situations - and we are having plenty of them - I’m sure he will get a good reception before the game and then we want to make it as difficult as we possibly can for him and all the Swansea players on the pitch and in the stands. A competitor like him wouldn’t expect anything less.”

Much of the coverage of Swansea this week has centred around rap superstar and club co-owner Snoop Dogg making his first appearance at a game.

McKenna was asked whether Snoop Dogg has been banned from the dressing room in the run-up to Saturday’s match.

“I’ve given up on the boys in terms of music for quite a while now, I don’t know where it’s at,” McKenna said. “But it’s a nice story for [Swansea].”

Quizzed on his message to fans going into the three home games, McKenna said: “First and foremost, they know, like always, that they are going to have a massive role to play in helping the team - both in the good moments and the bad moments of the game.

“But also it is us knowing that we have come off a run of away games with some positives in there as well as some things that didn’t go our way.

“We are now coming home but we know it’s not going to happen for us automatically. We are playing against good sides and everyone at this stage of the season has something to go for.

“The games are not going to be straightforward or simple, it’s going to take a huge effort across the games to try and get the results that we want.

“We will try and give everything to the performances and we know the supporters will be right behind us. Let’s see if we can have some really good days here and get the results in the direction we want.”

The Team

Christian Walton will continue in goal with Leif Davis set to return at left-back having missed out at Watford. Jacob Greaves will drop to the bench, despite another impressive display in his secondary role.

Skipper Dara O’Shea and Cedric Kipre again look set to be the centre-halves with Darnell Furlong at right-back.

Azor Matusiwa, who remains on nine bookings with a 10th leading to a two-game ban having gone 13 matches without a yellow card with another five fixtures to be played before the cut-off, seems likely to be partnered by either Jack Taylor or Jens Cajuste with Dan Neil unlikely to start two games in five days having seen little action with Sunderland in the first half of the season.

Wes Burns and Anis Mehmeti look set to return on the right and as the number 10 respectively with Sindre Walle Egeli and Marcelino Nunez dropping to the bench. Jack Clarke will continue on the left.

George Hirst may come in as the number nine, Ivan Azon having started the last two matches.

Opposition

Swans head coach Vitor Matos was keen to focus on the game ahead rather than Snoop Dogg-related events from earlier in the week at his pre-match press conference.

New Zealand international midfielder Marko Stamenic is back from suspension having missed the last two matches after amassing 10 bookings and Matos has no new injury issues to deal with.

Former Norwich City striker Adam Idah (hamstring) and Swedish winger Zeidane Inoussa (back) both remain sidelined.

“Squad is looking good, no big difference from the last game, will be the same in terms of availability,” Matos said.

“A tough game, tough place to go, of course, but the kind of game we always look forward to to compete and this will be another one, and that’s what we will try and do.”

Reflecting on Town, Matos added: “They are really well organised with a really good manager, a squad with a game idea that has been built over the time he has been there.

“They’re really consistent with that. They know what to do with the ball when they have it, they know how to defend when they don’t have it, they are really balanced.

“They use transitions, they press, so I think they are one of the better teams in the league. And that’s what the table says as well.

“But that’s good because that’s what we want, we want to compete against everyone and that’s another game to do it.”

History

Results over the years are very closely matched, Swansea winning 12 games (12 in the league), Town having won 13 (11) and with nine (eight) matches ending in draws.

The Blues have won their last three against the Swans and four of their last five, although only one of their last four at Portman Road.

At the Swansea.com Stadium in November, former Blues defender Burgess netted two own goals as Town romped a 4-1 victory, their second away win in a week.

Jack Clarke deservedly gave the Blues the lead in the 36th minute but the Swans levelled with their first serious shot on 50.

However, five minutes later Burgess diverted a Davis shot into his own net, Azon made it 3-1 with his first goal for the club on 76, then Burgess slid a Cajuste cross into his own net with nine minutes remaining to complete his and Swansea’s miserable afternoon.

The teams most recently met at Portman Road in November 2023 when Town moved level on points with leaders Leicester City following a 3-2 victory over the 10-man Swans, but remained behind the Foxes on goal difference.

Jay Fulton gave the visitors the lead in the seventh minute as McKenna’s men started slowly but a brilliant Taylor strike and a predatory finish from Conor Chaplin saw the Blues into the lead at half-time, before a Hirst penalty, the first in a Town match that season, on 53 secured the advantage.

Jamal Lowe pulled one back in injury time for the Welshmen, who earlier had been reduced to 10 men for the final 21 minutes following Liam Cullen’s dismissal for two bookable offences.

Familiar Faces

Central defender Burgess joined the Swans last summer after leaving the Blues having been at the club for four years in which he was a member of the back-to-back promotion-winning side.

The Australian international made 116 starts and 11 sub appearances for Town, scoring five goals.

Blues striker Ali Al-Hamadi, who is on loan for the season at Luton, was an academy player with Swansea between 2018 and 2021 without making a senior appearance.

The Officials

Saturday’s referee is Anthony Backhouse, his assistants Mark Stevens and Mark Scholes, and the fourth official Tom Reeves.

Cumbria-based Backhouse has shown 94 yellow cards and no red in 20 games so far this season.

Backhouse’s last Town match was the 2-0 victory over leaders Coventry at the CBS Arena in December in which he cautioned Furlong, Taylor and one home player.

Prior to that, back in April 2023, Backhouse was the man in charge at Pride Park as the Blues beat Derby 2-0 on their way to promotion from League One. He booked seven players that day, among them three from Town, Walton, Burns and Luke Woolfenden.

Earlier that season, Backhouse was in in the middle for the 2-0 win at Accrington in which he yellow-carded Davis, Woolfenden, Burns and three Stanley players.

Before that, he was in charge of the FA Cup tie against Coventry at St Andrew’s in November 2019 which ended 1-1. Andre Dozzell, Flynn Downes and one Sky Blue were booked.

Backhouse’s only other Town game was the 2-0 defeat at Stoke in December 2018 in which he replaced the referee who had started the match, Geoff Eltringham, in the 39th minute and showed yellow cards to Gwion Edwards and Potters’ full-back Erik Pieters.

Squad From

Walton, Palmer, Williamson, Furlong, Johnson, Davis, O’Shea (c), Greaves, Kipre, Matusiwa, Cajuste, Neil, Taylor, Clarke, Burns, Walle Egeli, McAteer, Nunez, Mehmeti, Akpom, Hirst, Azon.

Photo: TWTD