The fourth-placed Blues returned to winning ways with a thumping 4-0 victory over Millwall on Wednesday night and moved within a point of Southampton in third. The Saints are in action at West Brom on Friday evening with second-placed Leeds at Plymouth on Saturday afternoon.
Town play the second of nine games against teams in the lower or middle reaches of the division in South Wales.
The Swans, who were beaten 4-0 at home by Leeds on Tuesday, currently sit in 17th in the Championship, seven points off the drop zone.
They have won only once in their last six in the Championship, losing four, with their solitary victory a surprise 1-0 success at Hull City. During that run they also lost 5-0 at AFC Bournemouth in the FA Cup.
At home in the league this season they have won four, drawn five and lost seven, including their last three.
They most recently won at the Liberty Stadium in the Championship on New Year’s Day when they defeated West Brom 1-0, although they did defeat League Two Morecambe 2-0 in the FA Cup a few days later.
Only two teams in the division have conceded more goals than the Swans, 52 in their 31 fixtures so far.
At home, just two Championship sides have scored fewer than their total of 17, while five teams have conceded more than the 23 they have shipped, the same number as Town.
The Blues go into the match only three days after the win at Millwall and McKenna hints that with the quick turnaround, he may make changes to his XI.
“We’ll assess everyone after tonight,” he said following the victory at the Den. “It’s going to demand great energy, no doubt about that.
“They impose a real possession-based style and it’s going to take a lot of work off the ball to stop them and to try and create opportunities for ourselves.
“We’re going to need plenty of fresh legs and we’re going to need plenty of energy, so we’ll assess how everyone comes in tomorrow and prepare as well as we can in the short time that we have.”
The Portman Road match in November, which ended 3-2 to Town, was an entertaining affair and McKenna is anticipating a similar encounter, although with the Swans now under new management.
Luke Williams, who joined from Notts County at the start of January following Michael Duff’s exit, having previously a member of Russell Martin’s staff during the Southampton boss’s time in charge at the Liberty Stadium.
“It was a really good game the first time around,” McKenna recalled. “I think they’ve got some good players and like so so many of the teams that we’re playing second time around, you’re playing them with a new manager.
“But they’ve got good players, they’re working hard to impose their style of play and we’ll go there and try and be ourselves as well, so it should make for a good game.”
