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Wales Online
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Mathew Davies

The forgotten Swansea City man who Michael Duff called 'a threat' and who he already knows all about

It's the start of a new week at the beginning of a fresh era for Swansea City.

Michael Duff, appointed late last Thursday evening, wasted no time in getting down to business, putting players through their paces over the weekend ahead of their trip to Spain on Sunday.

The squad were put through a number of tests to assess their fitness levels.

"Today is just an opportunity for us to kind of reconnect with [the players]," Swansea's head of performance Tom Barnden said. "The biggest thing for me is to put them through some tests that will first and foremost guide us on how they are physically and mentally [and also] shape some of the some of the individualised programmes that we will give the players.

READ MORE: Swansea City players run ragged in pre-season tests as Michael Duff lays down tough fitness marker

"We put the players through a battery of different tests over the course of the day; standard strength tests, running tests, medical tests."

Twenty-four players were in attendance on Friday, with Duff taking the time to get to know every single one of them. One, though, would not have needed much of an introduction.

Kyle Joseph, something of a forgotten figure in SA1, is back at Fairwood for pre-season having spent the last two campaigns away from south Wales.

The 21-year-old made 41 appearances for Oxford United last term, but the campaign before that he was with Cheltenham Town working with Duff for the first half of the season.

Joseph scored on his Robins' debut for Duff and made an immediate impression on the 45-year-old.

"Yes, that's what he is, he's a threat, he runs in behind, works his socks off," he said after the draw with MK Dons.

"He's not had loads of minutes. He can finish with both feet, we knew that. I was really pleased with him to get off the mark, which is always nice for a centre-forward, I think, getting that monkey off your back and getting going straight away."

Joseph would only score four goals for Duff before being recalled in the January of that season. It is clear, though, that the new manager liked his versatility, even playing him at right wing-back on occasion.

"The gaffer called me on Tuesday just after pre-match and we had a little joke about it because he said to me when I signed, 'One thing I can promise you is you'll never play right wing-back for me'," Joseph told the BBC after a game against Gillingham.

"He said, 'Remember when I said that, well I'm going to have to ask you to play there'.

"I was all right with it to be fair. I think as a footballer you've got to adapt to these different situations. Obviously a striker playing right wing-back is a bit extreme but as long as I'm on the pitch I'm happy.

"Playing football, it's a blessing for me to do it every day so I'll do whatever the gaffer asks me to do."

Joseph had fulfilled the same role in south Wales, so the experience wasn't completely alien to him, a useful string to the youngster's bow.

"The bombing up and down, that was all coming back to me," Joseph added.

"I think it's defensively, that's the main thing for me. Being a wing-back you try not to get beat one v one, stand your ground, don't try and be rash. But then going forward it was more just be myself, be expressive. From the experience I've had playing there for Swansea it was all right, I done really well."

What now, then?

Joseph still has two years to run on his Swansea contact and one assumes if Russell Martin was still in charge in SA1 that he would be moved on this summer. But with a new man at the helm, one with experience of working with the former Wigan attacker, there could yet still be an opportunity to impress ahead of the 2023/24 campaign.

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