'You have to be switched on every second against City'

Swansea's Ethan Galbraith eyes another pop tonight at a side he ran close with Orient in the FA Cup last season

- Ben Fisher

than Galbraith cannot help but smile. He is recounting the final seconds of Swansea's epic comeback win against Nottingham Forest in the last round of the Carabao Cup, an episode that culminated in him briefly donning a supporter's spectacles, having retrieved them from the wreckage of a pitch-side pile-on. As the game ticked into the 97th minute, Galbraith cracked the upright with a billowing strike from 25 yards and Cameron Burgess leathered in the rebound before hurtling off towards the East Stand to celebrate, fans mobbing the players.

It capped an extraordinary turnaround given Swansea trailed 2-0 midway through the second half. Amid the delirium, there was some collateral damage. “There was a supporter sort of calling out and myself and Keysy [Josh Key] were thinking: ‘What’s he on about here?’” says Galbraith. “Then we saw the glasses. It was a bit of banter putting them on. We are on the pitch as footballers but we’re humans, too, so to have a bit of craic with the fans is always good.”

It was a victory that secured a fourth-round game at home against Manchester City tonight, opponents Galbraith ran close at the same stage of the FA Cup with Leyton Orient in February. Galbraith, an athletic midfielder, had arguably the best view in the house when Orient took the lead in spectacular fashion, Jamie Donley’s first-time shot from about 45 yards going in via the crossbar and the City goalkeeper, Stefan Ortega. It feels criminal that it went down as an own goal.