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Wales Online
Wales Online
Sport
Ian Mitchelmore

Swansea City handed Joe Allen boost as Russell Martin confirms another loan exit planned

Joe Allen is set to feature for Swansea City in their Carabao Cup clash with Oxford United.

The midfielder re-joined his boyhood club this summer after being released by Stoke City. However, he has been recovering from the hamstring injury he sustained during Wales' Nations League clash with Belgium in June.

It meant he missed the Championship matches against Rotherham United and Blackburn Rovers, although he is set to be included in the matchday squad for tomorrow night's cup contest against Karl Robinson's men.

READ MORE: Russell Martin's Jake Silverstein talks as Swansea City chief outlines transfer hope

Russell Martin is set to give several fringe players the chance to impress in the Carabao Cup, as he did in the games against Reading, Plymouth Argyle and Brighton in the competition last term. However, the head coach has confirmed he will not completely rotate his squad, with some more established men set to feature at the Kassam Stadium.

"It [rotation] was important for us at Reading last season," said the 36-year-old. "Kyle Naughton played in the middle of a back three and stayed there for the rest of the season. There were a few players who did really well like Joel Piroe. If it wasn't for that game, it might have ended very differently.

"There'll be some players who continue to play and some that are rested because, for them to travel there and play in a game when we've got so many games coming up, it just won't be worth it. It'll be a bit of a mixture, but there'll definitely be some opportunities for people on Tuesday."

Midfielder Dan Williams is among those who will play a part for the Swans against The U's. The Wales Under-21 international returned to south Wales this summer after sustaining an ankle injury during his loan spell with Dundalk.

However, the club are hopeful of sending the 21-year-old out on loan once again to give him more experience of first team football.

"With Dan, he went on loan and started really well before getting injured which is really unfortunate," said Martin. "I think we are looking for Dan to go out and play football if we can.

"You know my view on it, if they're not playing football at 21 or 22 here, they need to be playing somewhere. We can't stockpile here.

"At that age, the biggest benefit you can get is playing games. It needs to be at the right club and at the right level to make it worthwhile. We can't just send our players anywhere. They do need to learn other sides of the game for sure, but it needs to be the right profile for Dan.

"We are working on that. The most important thing is we get him fit. He'll be involved on Tuesday at Oxford in some capacity. He's a great lad, he's looking fit again now and it's just about building him up, him and Ben Cabango, to a point where they're ready to play.

"We'll keep looking and assessing and we'll see if we can find the right one for him."

Oxford v Swansea gets underway at 7:45pm on Tuesday.

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