news-engine

Swansea won’t hand a debut to new signing Ross Stewart against Birmingham City on Saturday - and Zan Vipotnik isn't fully fit yet either. The Swans won the race to land coveted free agent Stewart following his Southampton exit and the 30-year-old has penned a three-year contract. Stewart has a chequered injury past but the Scot found fitness and form last season with 11 goals in 33 matches. The Saints hoped to keep him at St Mary’s but they missed their deadline to exercise a contract option and Stewart has jumped ship. FOLLOW ON FACEBOOK! All the latest Blues news on Birmingham Live’s Birmingham City FC Facebook page Swansea’s squad still includes last season’s Golden Boot winner Vipotnik and £7m signing Adam Idah to give boss Vitor Matos some good options up front. But Stewart won’t feature against Blues in the Carabao Cup first round clash on Saturday. “He will not be involved in this game,” Matos confirmed at his press conference. “He has missed all pre-season so he will need to step by step get him into the team. In the future, for sure, against Birmingham of course not.” Vipotnik, who scored 23 times in the Championship last season, is still building up his fitness after a pre-season injury. Key midfielder Goncalo Franco is out. “Vipotnik is available for the game, yes. It is only Franco (injured),” said Matos. On Vipotnik, the Swansea boss added: “The only thing I can add is that he missed an important part of pre-season, around 10-12 days, on the last friendly he played 20 minutes so he’s getting back again.”