Swansea City Vs. Wycombe Wanderers, Nathan Tjoe-A-On Can Play From The First Minute

Nathan Tjoe-A-On, a 22-year-old left-back from Indonesia. (photo: x @footballinanews)

JAKARTA - Swansea City will host Wycombe Wanderers in the second round of the EFL Cup on Wednesday 28 August. Both teams will try to improve their performances in this competition after disappointing results in recent seasons.

Swansea City came into this match after a 1-1 draw against Cardiff City in the South Wales derby on Sunday, August 25. Liam Cullen's opening goal for Swansea was rewarded by Callum Robinson of Cardiff, who secured their first point of the season. This draw saw Swansea move up to eighth with four points from three matches.

Swansea has had an unsatisfactory record at the EFL Cup in recent years, with just three wins in the last four seasons. However, a 3-1 win over Gillingham in the first round gave him hope for a better performance in the competition.

On the other hand, Wycombe Wanderers recorded their first league win of the season with a 2-0 win over Rotherham United. Wycombe has shown a strong attacking performance, despite previously experiencing a narrow defeat to Wrexham and Birmingham City.

In the first round of the EFL Cup, Wycombe beat Northampton Town, making them qualify for the second round for four consecutive seasons. However, they had difficulty going further, after being knocked out byction United and Bristol City in the last two seasons.

One of the Swansea players who attracted attention was Nathan Tjoe-A-On, a 22-year-old left-back from Indonesia. Tjoe-A-On joined Swansea in the summer of 2023 from Excelsion with a transfer value of 300,000 pounds (Rp6,1) after appearing 33 times on Eredivisie. Although he has more than two million followers on Instagram and is considered a star in Indonesia, Tjoe-A-On has not had much playing time since moving to Swansea. He is constrained by the presence of Josh Tymon, one of the best left-backs in the Championship.

However, the 2024/2025 season seems to be giving Tjoe-A-On a new chance. After impressive coach Luke Williams during pre-season, Tjoe-A-On finally made his Swansea debut in a 3-1 win over Gillingham at the EFL Cup, and got his first minute at Championship in a 3-0 win against Preston North End.

Williams praised the hard work and appearance of Tjoe-A-On, calling it a player who has the potential to challenge Tymon to a starting position. With his ability to play as a reverse full-back and technical ability developed at the Excelsion academy, Tjoe-A-On could be a valuable asset for Swansea, especially in a 4-2-3-1 formation that was changed to 3-2-5 while building an attack.

Meanwhile, six players who started Swansea's win over Gillingham have not started in the last two league games, so they can be given another chance this time. Striker Zan Vipotnik, who just arrived from Bordeaux, has a chance to perform, as well as Florian Bianchini and Nelson Abbey who haven't played in the previous game.

In Wycombe's camp, although it has only been a few weeks into the new season, they already have a fairly long list of injuries. Goalkeeper Nathan Bishop, along with several other core players such as Ryan Tafazolli, David Wheeler, and Sam Vokes, has been ruled out. However, new players such as Gideon Kodua, Aaron Morley, and Cameron warys, who scored the opener in their 2-0 win against Rotherham, are likely to start.

Swansea City (4-3-3): Vigouroux; Naughton, Cabao, Pedersen, Tjoe-A-On; Fulton, Allen, Cooper; Abdulai, Vipotnik, Ronald

Wycombe Wanderers (4-3-3): Ravizzoli; Grimmer, Low, Hartridge, Harvie; Morley, Scowen, Sadlier; Udoh, happeneds, McCleary