Swansea City will again be without Stephen Eustaquio on Saturday, with the Canada midfielder ruled out of the trip to Birmingham City because of the groin injury he suffered against Blackburn Rovers.
The update came from head coach Vitor Matos’s pre-match press conference on Thursday. Swansea otherwise got better news, with Stephen Welsh cleared by his scan and Eom Jisung and Moussa Yeo fit to return.
Eustaquio will again be absent, though, and BBC Sport reported from Matos’s press conference that he is not expected back until after the international break.
He opened the scoring in Saturday’s 4-0 win over Blackburn Rovers, his second goal of the season, before the injury forced him off in the 73rd minute.
“He felt discomfort in his groin, so we need to assess and really see the extent of that and whether it looks serious,” Matos said earlier this week, in comments reported by TSN.
Eustaquio then missed Tuesday’s 3-1 defeat at Portsmouth, and Saturday’s match at St Andrew’s will be the second straight league game he sits out.
Canada Place Already Gone
The injury has already cost Eustaquio his international place. He was left out of Jesse Marsch’s Canada squad on Tuesday, as Canadian Soccer Daily reported, for the Concacaf Nations League quarterfinal against Guatemala, with matches on November 13 and November 16.
Eustaquio is Canada’s vice-captain, and this is the second time this season an injury has interrupted his club rhythm. He also missed two Swansea matches in October after returning from a Canada camp with a minor problem.
Thin in Midfield for a Promotion Test
Birmingham City away is Swansea’s last match before the international break, and it is a meeting with one of the Championship’s form sides in the promotion race.
Matos is short in midfield for the trip. Melker Widell is also out after a hamstring injury forced him off at half time at Portsmouth.
Swansea’s run after the break is demanding, with West Bromwich Albion and Middlesbrough to come before the South Wales derby, so getting Eustaquio back fit rather than rushed is the clear priority.
Birmingham City host Swansea City at St Andrew’s on Saturday, November 7.
