Tonight's Swansea City news as return date set for injured star and Duff seeks answers over Patino red card

Here's your round-up of all the latest Swansea City news for Thursday, November 9.

Duff sets timeline for Key return

Swansea City boss Michael Duff says none of his wounded stars are in contention for Saturday's trip to Ipswich Town, but says he hopes to have Josh Key back in the fold after the upcoming international break.

Key has been sidelined for the last three Championship outings after picking up a knock against Leicester City, and has also now been ruled out of the trip to Suffolk on Saturday.

"Hopefully after the international break," Duff said when asked on a possible timeframe for Key's injury. "He's actually got a bit of illness at the minute so we've not seen him in this week.

"I'd actually rather that happen when he's injured so he doesn't have to get fit just to then get ill. We can get that all out the way then. Hopefully we can get all that out the way.

"Josh was one of our better players before he came out of the team, but I think Harrison's done really well since he came into the team. So there's definitely competition for places in that part of the pitch."

Meanwhile, Mykola Kuharevich, Joe Allen, Josh Ginnelly, Nathan Wood and Azeem Abdulai are all still on the treatment table, while Duff's options have been further depleted by the Charlie Patino's suspension.

"We are a bit short of numbers with Charlie suspended, and a couple have knocks so we will need to see where they are at," said the Swans boss.

"It’s all hands to the pump, and everyone who has been called upon has put their hands up and performed and we want to take that forward into this weekend.

"No-one is coming back who missed out last week so we will need to stay as resolute as we have been."

Duff reveals talks with PGMOL after Patino red

Michael Duff says he's spoken to the PGMOL following the Arsenal loanee's controversial red card against Sunderland at the weekend. The midfielder was dismissed after being shown two yellow cards within the opening half an hour.

It was a decision the Swans boss feels was harsh, with Duff confirming he's spoken to authorities over the decision, although he promised after the 0-0 draw with the Black Cats he would still speak to the 20-year-old.

"It's part of his learning," Duff said this week. "Part of his game that does need to improve is how he is out of possession and his aggression without the ball.

"I've spoken to Kevin Friend from the PGMOL, and he agrees that neither are yellow cards. So he's a little bit unfortunate.

"He's a victim of circumstance as well. But part of his learning is that if you're on a yellow card you need to be uber careful in the position you play.

"It's getting that balancing act of being more front-footed when they've got the ball and not just relying on when we've got it, and then knowing when to not cross the line - although we don't think he did cross the line.

"But he's been good. He wants to learn. The beauty of Charlie is that he's at a big club, and there's quite a few headlines written about him saying he's going to be this and he's going to be that. But he doesn't rest on his laurels. He comes in and works hard. He does the extras every day in training and from my point of view he's a dream."

Swans quartet receive international call

Evan Watts, Cameron Congreve, Josh Thomas and Joel Cotterill have all been named in Matty Jones' latest Wales Under-21s squad for the upcoming Euro 2025 qualifiers.

The young Dragons take on Iceland on Thursday, November 16, before then facing top seeds Denmark on Monday November 20. Both fixtures will be played at Rodney Parade.

Wales are currently second in Group I, and are yet to taste defeat in any of their three games, after racking up two draws against Denmark and Czech Republic, as well as a 3-2 win over Lithuania.