Duff interested in “on-fire” 25-year-old : Swans January target revealed

Swansea City are tracking Mansfield Town player, twenty five year old Davis Keillor-Dunn who has been on fire in front of goal this season. The Swans are by far not the only side to be monitoring the attacking midfielder who can count over ten clubs interested in his services.

Oddly enough Keillor-Dunn’s last two moves have been free transfers. He scored twenty five goals in eighty seven appearances for the Oldham Athketic (below) before they were relegated to non league – and then another five at Burton Albion in nineteen games. However, It has been at Mansfield Town under Nigel Clough where Keillor-Dunn has really flourished. He does have lulls in his career progression but at Field Mill things haven’t stalled at all. This year he has fired in seven goals already.

Obviously League Two is a different landscape to the Championship but the goals for all that are the same size. The concern will be at the age of twenty five, and with a pretty nomadic career behind him is can he cut it at a higher level ? Scoring goals always gets the attention of numerous clubs, especially in the Championship where a few extra goals can mean the difference between a mid table finish and the play offs.

We have been told today that the Swans are very much aware of Dunn and have numerous players in every position that are on their radar for January. ‘The work never stops’ is the mantra these days. Sporting Director Paul Watson along with Josh Marsh in recruitment have around thirty names of players – some who already know of the Swans interest in them. Approaches and contact in the summer by Swansea that weren’t either followed up or are on the back burner continue to be revisited. Players behaviours are continually being ‘checked’ which is a key element to Paul Watson’s recruitment ethic. How Davis Keillor-Dunn fits into that we dont know, but if he’s looking for that big move, and has the off field situation all tied down he could well be someone we hear more of as the new year approaches.

Michael Duff finally has a bit of positivity to build on as Swansea City boss – now he has to make the most of it

Things can change quickly in football. Indeed, the mood around Swansea City seems far less gloomy on the back of what was a resounding first win of the season last weekend.

Yes, Sheffield Wednesday are quite possibly the biggest basket case of a club in the Championship right now, but there’s no such thing as an easy game in this division. Just ask Michael Duff.

There’s no getting away from the fact it’s been a rocky start for the new Swans boss, who’s overseen the club’s worst start to a league season for 32 years, although in fairness it’s only marginally worse than the run of one win in seven that kicked off the last campaign under Russell Martin. It’s sometimes felt as though Duff has struggled to step out of the shadow of his predecessor, but with the monkey of that first win now off his back, he will be hoping he can start to build his own legacy at the club.

Almost from the day he arrived, he’s been keen to stress the slow starts seen elsewhere at Barnsley and Cheltenham Town – and indeed the resulting success that’s followed. That point has often been dismissed by critics, many of whom have clearly made up their minds about Duff and his tenure. Certainly, if the Swans are beaten at Millwall, the knives that were blunted by the win over the Owls might start to be sharpened once more.

In any case, we’ve now reached the milestone of 10 games in all competitions. The time for talking is over, which given some of Duff’s wayward soundbites might be for the best, anyway. Now, more than ever, he needs to start delivering cold hard results.

A quick scan of social media and one would be forgiven for wondering if there’s actually been any real positives attached to his time in charge. But he will take great encouragement from the fact the players appear to be firmly behind him.

“It’s been a tough period but you could see the togetherness, we have been working really hard,” he said after the win last weekend. “People don’t see how hard they work in training and you could see how together they are with how all 11 players celebrated the goals together.”

Matt Grimes, Jamal Lowe and, most recently, Harry Darling, have all publicly spoken favourably of the new boss in recent weeks, although clearly getting the supporters onside has proved more difficult. As has been previously pointed out, Duff’s comments in the media probably haven’t helped his cause, but it’s the nature of performances that has understandably been the biggest cause of concern.

Duff has freely admitted that the inability to stitch together a complete performance for 90 minutes has proved a frustrating constant during his tenure so far, and it’s clearly costing his side. In total, Swansea have lost eight points from winning positions. Only Coventry City have a worse record at this stage.

For that reason, last Saturday felt like cathartic release of tension for the everyone. “I felt like when the second goal went in, it was almost like a sigh than a celebration on Saturday,” he told WalesOnline. “I felt it. I didn’t celebrate the goal at all because you know there’s that anxiety about needing that second goal. The little bit of luck we might have had was the one that hit the crossbar.

“We haven’t had that. It hits the crossbar and then we go bang, bang. Game’s dead. Then the last half an hour is the opposite to QPR because you’re winning 3-0.

“It’s fine moments. When we went 3-0 down to West Bromwich Albion, we suddenly looked like a good team because there’s no pressure. It’s about trying to harness that anxiety and confidence and trying to them in the right order.”

Duff will argue that this nervous energy has been at the heart of the disjointed performances turned in by his side. Critics, of course, won’t really be too bothered about the reasons, and will be demanding results regardless. Certainly, if results don’t come, everyone will once again be looking for some semblance of an overriding identity and direction to cling on to.

The inability to recognise a clear and defined style has been the most prominent complaint around the Duff era and, on the whole, we’ve seen precious little to dispel that assessment over the last few weeks. For many, the poor start to the season has been made all the more worrying by the struggles to decipher what Swansea under Michael Duff is even supposed to look like.

The Swans boss has frequently talked about the importance of possession with purpose, of intensity, of aggression, of playing on the front foot. But he would be the first one to admit we simply haven’t seen enough of any of that.

But while some will dismiss the significance of that first victory, there were clearly a few snapshots of potential answers. Charlie Patino’s goal was perhaps the most shining example. It took just two passes to work the ball from Swansea’s own penalty area into the Sheffield Wednesday net. It was a goal that oozed the sort of confidence the Swans had previously lacked. Admittedly it’s easier to display when you have the luxury of being 2-0 up, but it’s that sort of moment Duff will point to if he finds his reign in the dock again.

The challenge now is finding a way now of bottling that feeling, as he now has something he hasn’t yet had since taking over – a platform upon which to build. Indeed, a positive result at Millwall and suddenly the landscape looks very different. It becomes less about one win in eight, and more about three games unbeaten.

The lengthening injury list clearly won’t make that task any easier. Losing Josh Ginnelly, a man that’s been at the heart of this mini upturn in form, for the rest of the season is clearly a massive blow. Probably more so than Joe Allen, who, to be brutally honest, the Swans have grown used to being without. Nathan Wood, too, while the team’s best centre-back operates in a position where Duff does have options.

Certainly it’s not ideal, but every manager has to deal with injuries. Besides, a foundation like this is exactly what Duff will have been craving over the last few weeks. Finally there’s a crumb of positivity to hang on to. A result to blow away, at least partially, some of the anxiety that’s accrued over the last few weeks. If he makes the most of it over the coming weeks, perhaps this might just all work out after all.