The Swans boss admits Benson could go back to his parent clubSwansea City manager Vitor Matos(Image: Pro Sports)

Swansea City boss Vitor Matos has refused to rule out the possibility Manuel Benson will return to parent club Burnley in January.

The Swans are set to lose the winger in December after he was named in Angola’s squad for the upcoming African Cup of Nations, but his future beyond the tournament is yet to be decided.

Benson joined City on the final day of the summer transfer window, and his arrival sparked a fair amount of excitement among the Jack Army given his pedigree at Championship level.

However, he has made just six league appearances for the Swans, including one start, and Matos admits all options are currently on the table right now.

Asked if Benson’s loan could potentially be cut short, he said: “[That is] not yet decided.

“All the loan players are always a possibility in the transfer window, that’s the truth.

“Some depends on the club, some depends on the players, some depends on the mother club, so it’s a situation that we are still to see.”

Benson looks set to link up with his nation after the trip to Stoke City on December 13, but the length of his absence will largely depend on Angola’s progress in the tournament.

Should they go deep into the competition, he could well be away until well into January, with the final of AFCON pencilled in for January 18.

In terms of his Swansea future, Malick Yalcouye may also face similar questions given he hasn’t even made the matchday squad under Matos yet, and hasn’t played a single minute since his red card against Queens Park Rangers in October.

Other loanees whose futures could be assessed include West Ham centre-back Kaelan Casey, who has largely impressed in his 10 appearances so far, and Ishe Samuels-Smith, who has also done well in his five outings for the club.

Matos is set to prepare his side for a crucial Championship clash with Oxford United on Saturday, after watching the Swans collapse and squander a two-goal lead to lose at West Bromwich Albion last time out.

“It was clear and I said that already before after the match that we got too deep,” he said when reflecting on the game.

“We were not able to press, we were not able to retain the ball and have the calmness needed to go for the right positions, high up the pitch.

“We knew that they would come, or they would have come strong in the second half, especially with the four changes.

“So we needed to find a way to get control quick of the game. We were not able to. We start getting deeper and deeper.

“There’s a few things and a lot of things that we need to improve. But I knew, we knew it, that especially when you get more emotional, when we get tired, you are normally going to the things you have more habits of doing it.

“So that’s what’s starting to happen. You start being more man-orientated when you are defending, you start opening more gaps, the players have more space to defend, in the end you start opening a lot of opportunities for the opposition to score and that’s what happened and they deserve the credit for that as well.”

Swansea face Oxford at the Swansea.com Stadium on Saturday. Kick-off is at 3pm.

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