Swansea's progress through the first three matches of their Premier League season presents a half-glass situation for Swans fans; those who worry that the team have yet to score will see the glass half empty, though they needn't worry. Swansea created a handful of chances against Wigan but doubled their efforts versus Sunderland, with Danny Graham alone coming close on no less than four separate occasions. Graham ought to have buried his first header, unmarked and maybe ten yards out. Although his miss will have left Swans fans shaking their heads, he should be commended for finding so much space against a seasoned Premier League defence. With at least half a dozen other quality chances, the best of which saw Scott Sinclair rattle a spectacular shot off the underside of the crossbar, it is clear the Swans attack is growing in confidence; the team were frankly unlucky not to have won the game.

Talk about a game of contrasts; the Swans versus Sunderland fixture presents a classic case of "something's gotta give". In the white corner we have Swansea City, unbeaten in ten games at the Liberty stadium. In the red-striped corner we have a Sunderland team who are unbeaten in three away games. Swansea are still chasing their first Premier League goal whilst Sunderland have yet to keep a clean sheet. No matter the scoreline, by Saturday evening at least one of those sequences will have been broken.

There aren't many positives to take from Swansea's humiliating defeat to League Two's Shrewsbury Town. The obvious if slightly ignoble plus is that the Swans have one less distraction whilst they concentrate on Premier League survival; a sentiment shared (and brazenly admitted to) by QPR's Neil Warnock, who also saw his side crash out in less than flattering fashion to Rotherham. Not wanting to be undone by their survival rivals, Norwich also threw themselves on the fire, perhaps winning the sweepstakes of shame in losing by the biggest margin, 4-0 to MK Dons.

For all the pomp and circumstance surrounding Swansea's first ever home Premier League fixture, the game itself was a tentative slow burner; the latter part of the second half was somewhat more exciting and featured the game's biggest moment, as new Swans keeper Michel Vorm continued to amaze by pulling out a penalty save to salvage a point, living up to his "penalty killer" reputation in the process. With the goalkeeping as solid as it's ever been, all question marks are now pointed sharply towards the goal-scoring department.

Swansea's first home fixture as a Premier League club is against none other than Wigan Athletic; storybook stuff from the fixtures computer which will see former Swans stalwart Roberto Martinez return to the Liberty Stadium for the first time since he followed the gold-paved road north with half the backroom staff and the team's top scorer in tow. Some Swans fans have threatened, playfully or otherwise, to throw pig's heads and the like at the former boss. But does Martinez deserve a warmer welcome?

The Swans first top flight game in thirty years was never going to match the five-one whomping the '81 side stuck on a strong Leeds United team back in the day; these Swans were more likely to be on the receiving end of such a scoreline, but that is more a reflection of the modern game (i.e. the money game) than anything else.

In order to get a better idea of the task Swansea face in trying to stay up, I took a look at the final standings of every Premier League season so far. I wanted to know the average number of points needed to finish one place out of the drop zone and therefore in safety. Here's what I found.

It's the next part of my Swansea Season Preview, and it's time to look at the reasons Swansea will stay up... and in the interest of being balanced, a few why they might not.

With the start of the new season literally days away, I thought I'd indulge in a Swansea City season preview. To start, I'm going to take a look at the team's new signings.

After last season's campaign, the team badly needed a striker, some defensive depth (not to mention height), some cover on the wings, some strength in the middle and, as it turned out, a new goalkeeper or two. So, one of everything, then (my favourite order at the bar). Manager Brendan Rodgers seems to have an taste for misfits; players who have always shown promise but have failed to catch on anywhere else. He also like them fast. His first experiment was successful, as giving Scott Sinclair a team and a jersey to call his own resulted in 27 goals and (with Nathan Dyer) the most dynamic winger pairing in the Championship. This summer, Rodgers has followed suit and brought unsettled speedsters Wayne Routledge and Leroy Lita in from the cold (i.e.. The North). He's also added one or two others.

Let's take a look.