I was worried for Swansea City before the start of the season, so much so that in my pre-season predictions I tipped them to suffer relegation at the end of the season.
It's not what I'd like, the Swans have been a breath of fresh air upon their promotion to the Premier League in 2011, and under Michael Laudrup have proceeded to continue to play the game in the most attractive way possible.
They had a stunning start to the season, a 5-0 away win at QPR followed up by a 3-0 win over West Ham, but since then their only points have been picked up in home draws against Reading and Sunderland.
Defeats have been suffered to Aston Villa, Everton, Stoke, and Manchester City, although their slide was somewhat boosted by their timely 2-1 win over Wigan last weekend.
They are without key players from last season's successful team, for various reasons. Joe Allen and Scott Sinclair have been sold, while Gylfi Sigurdsson did not re-sign. But these players have largely been replaced.
Ki and Pablo Hernandez are exciting additions, still to fully settle, while Wayne Routledge has stepped up and Michu has made an instant impact.
The more worrying aspect for Swans fans is the defence. Steven Caulker could not be tempted back on loan, but even more concerning are the injuries to key men Neil Taylor, ruled out for the season, and Michel Vorm, expected to be out for six-eight weeks.
Part of Swansea's key success last season was their stingy defence, especially at the Liberty Stadium, where they kept a succession of clean sheets early on in the campaign. This season you have to go back to August to find their most recent clean sheet, against West Ham.
Tightening up the defence is a priority for Swansea, if they are to avoid being sucked into a relegation battle.
They can take solace that there are worse teams in the division, Reading, QPR, Southampton and Norwich all appear inferior to Swansea, but if the Swans go on a losing streak, and they have won just one in the last seven league games, it will be time to worry.
Their upcoming fixtures do not bode well. Goalkeeper Vorm will miss the league visit of Chelsea, with games against Liverpool, Newcastle, Arsenal and Manchester United all schedule between now and Christmas.
The match in a fortnight against Southampton at St Mary's will be even more crucial, for both sides. If the Saints beat Swansea, then if will be significant for both clubs, and it won't be good news for the Swans.
After such a good start, are you worried Swansea will be sucked into a relegation battle?
image: © joncandy
Dan Coombs
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Dan Coombs is a writer who is keen to embrace the internet revolution. He first started writing for us in June 2011 and commenced his new role as Sports Editor in February 2012.
As a trained journalist he has met famous faces from Mr T to Boris Johnson. He once featured in an England World Cup music video too, but it did not make the charts.
He grew up wanting to be a Formula 1 driver, but it looks like this dream has passed him by. Instead, he hopes you enjoy reading his writing on our site, as we seek to debate the day's sporting hot topics.
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