SWANSEA City’s FAW Premier Cup match with arch rivals Cardiff City was confirmed last night after Frank Burrows’s side clinched their place at the top of Group A.

Cardiff came from a goal behind to snatch a 3-2 win over struggling League of Wales visitors Rhyl and set up an all-Third Division clash with Swansea at Ninian Park at a date to be confirmed for next month.

Swansea’s problem will be fitting in the quarter-final tie during a month which is already packed with seven crucial league games.

Cardiff have already confirmed there will be no ban on away fans in an early runner to their League encounter at Ninian Park on April 18.

Meanwhile, The Football Association of Wales will decide within days whether to charge Swansea following the pitch invasion in the Brighton match when two spectators were arrested. The Welsh FA today confirmed that they had received a report from match referee Alan Wiley, of Staffordshire.

‘‘We are looking at it and will make a decision either by the end of the week or early next week,’’ said the governing body’s disciplinary administrator Paul Evans.

SWANSEA City’s players went training on the beach today while the search for an experienced goalkeeper continued.

With every pitch in the area covered by several inches of overnight snow, manager John Hollins switched his preparations for Saturday’s visit of Carlisle to a sandier base.

The sight of Swansea’s Third Division squad training on the beach has become a familiar sight in recent weeks with the pitches at Ashleigh Road under water.

But not all the players were on duty today. Midfielder Jonathan Coates and winger Stuart Roberts stayed in North Wales last night after the B international with Northern Ireland.

Coates was in the side which won 1-0 in Arctic conditions at Wrexham while Roberts, called up late from the standby list, was a non-playing substitute.

‘‘I asked all the players to stay in the team hotel an extra night because we did not want any of them travelling any distance with the weather worsening,’’ said Wales B team manager Graham Williams.

A number of Swansea players, including Steve Jones and Jason Smith, travel from Gloucestershire and Bristol each day.

Swansea’s Welsh Youth Cup replay with Llanelli tonight is subject to a Vetch Field inspection but the match was clearly in doubt after heavy overnight snow.

‘‘The pitch is covered in snow and is frozen underneath,’’ said club secretary Vicki Townsend.

SWANS manager John Hollins was staying tight-lipped today about a mystery incident that has put striker Tony Bird out of Saturday’s game with Carlisle at the Vetch. The player was injured at the weekend during an incident not connected with a match. It is understood he needed hospital treatment in Cardiff. No-one would say exactly what happened in the incident on Saturday night.

But it is understood he was out with friends in Cardiff city centre when he was attacked by a group of men. He is believed to have been beaten badly enough to need treatment at a Cardiff hospital for facial injuries.

Swans manager John Hollins has refused to give details of the incident.

Mr Hollins said: ‘‘He has had an accident and he won’t be playing on Saturday.’’

The loss of the striker is likely to cause problems for the club.

Owner Neil McClure said he was not aware there was a problem with Bird’s fitness.

‘‘I have not been told anything but if Tony Bird is out we could have a problem because of the number of suspensions.’’

Swans in crisis

SWANSEA City were plunged into a front-line crisis today when they were left with just one experienced striker for Saturday’s Third Division fixture against Carlisle. In addition to suspended pair Julian Alsop and Steve Watkin, the club will also have to get by without Tony Bird who has been ruled out by a mysterious injury.

‘‘Tony has had an accident and cannot play on Saturday,’’ said manager John Hollins.

While no-one at the club was prepared to elaborate on the official line, it is clear that whatever happened it must be serious to rule the player out so early in the week.

It was also unclear today whether the injury Bird sustained would keep last season’s top scorer out for any length of time.

Bird was a non-playing substitute against Brighton last Friday when skipper Nick Cusack played with a light cast to protect a broken right hand.

Cusack is among four players ruled out by suspension on Saturday. The others are Alsop, Watkin and Jason Price.

With Bird also ruled out, Aidan Newhouse is left as the only senior striker on the books with any experience but with Alsop and Watkin in such prime form the former Fulham player has been restricted to just four League starts this season.

The only other forwards on the Vetch Field staff are teenagers Carl Mainwaring, who played three times in the League last season, and Jamie Davies who recently signed a new contract.

Hollins says he has already mapped out in his mind what team he is going to play against Carlisle but whether it includes Mainwaring or Davies remains to be seen.

Ironically, the Bird injury has come in a week when Swansea have parted company with another striker Dave O’Gorman who looks set to join a League of Wales club in North Wales later this week.

O’Gorman, 26, did not feature in Hollins’s plans and was offered his release in December.