Swansea City dealt huge potential blow ahead of Cardiff City | OneFootball

Swansea City have been dealt a huge blow ahead of one of their biggest fixtures of the season

Luke Williams revealed that Swansea City could be without centre-back duo Harry Darling and Ben Cabango for their trip to Cardiff City on Saturday.

Prior to Swansea's last league game against West Brom, both Darling and Cabango had started every Championship game for Williams' side, but they could both be unavailable for the short trip to the Welsh capital on Saturday.

Cabango went off injured in Swansea's 4-0 defeat to Portsmouth on New Year's Day, while Williams revealed that Darling was unable to get fit for their recent FA Cup defeat to Southampton.

This meant that Cyrus Christie and Kyle Naughton, two right-backs by trade, started in central defence at St Mary's, and the potential unavailability of Darling and Cabango will be a huge concern ahead of such an important fixture.

Ben Cabango and Harry Darling doubts for Cardiff City clash

The Swans travel up the M4 to Cardiff on Saturday for the second South Wales Derby of the season, and there would have been a quiet optimism amongst the Swansea ranks just a couple of weeks ago.

However, the Bluebirds' form has improved quite drastically in recent weeks, while Swansea have struggled somewhat, and injuries to Darling and Cabango mean there's a genuine chance they start the game on Saturday without an out-and-out centre-back in the squad.

Williams told the BBC that he picked the strongest team he could in the Swans' 3-0 defeat to Southampton, meaning he would have picked his star centre-back duo if he could have.

He said: "Harry Darling has been here trying to get ready for the game, he travelled on the coach for four hours.

"He's a doubt for the derby because he is injured. I was trying to get him ready for this game.

"We did everything to get Harry Darling fit. Ben Cabango is still having treatment.

"I resent any suggestion I wasn't taking the game seriously."

With just a six-day turnaround between their defeat at St Mary's and the South Wales Derby, it remains to be seen if Williams will have his centre-back duo available, but Cardiff will be licking their lips at the prospect of facing Swansea without Darling and Cabango after an impressive 2024/25 campaign for the pair.

Ben Cabango and Harry Darling injuries will be a huge worry for Swansea City

Swansea's small squad means that Darling and Cabango are the club's only senior centre-backs, and Williams will have a real headache if the duo are unavailable.

Christie and Naughton can play there if needed, but they're 32 and 36 respectively, so their best days are behind them.

The irony won't be lost on Williams that Nelson Abbey, who was surplus to requirements while on loan from Olympiacos, has been recalled when he would likely be in the frame to feature now, and it remains to be seen if they'll look to sign a centre-back on loan this month to replace him.

Filip Lissah, who has impressed for Swansea's U21 side previously and made his senior debut in an FA Cup tie against Bournemouth last season, is currently injured too, meaning Christie and Naughton could well start against Cardiff City.

Swansea have been linked with Wycombe Wanderers' centre-back Joe Low, but no deal has been struck yet, and unless things move quickly this week it looks unlikely that he'll be a member of Williams' squad by Saturday.

Of course, mind games are standard before a derby like this, so it wouldn't be a total surprise if Darling and Cabango did start on Saturday, but it means supporters will have a nervous wait to find out the team at 11:30 on Saturday morning.