The Swansea City midfielder admitted to being a little surprised at the comments made by Bothroyd ahead of the weekend clash when he stated that he thought the Swans were less of a side than they were last season.
And while Ash and Leon were quick to dismiss Bothroyd’s comments as ‘mind games’, Pratley was a little more vocal and admitted it would add to their motivation ahead of the Saturday lunchtime game.,
Pratley told the Western Mail “I don’t know why Jay has done that
“Even if I thought something like that, it would be a little bit naive of me to say it to the press.
“He is a good footballer and a top player so he doesn’t need to be saying things like that. I was a little bit shocked when I saw it.
“It just puts more pressure on him to do well. I wouldn’t be happy with myself if something like that went in the paper.
“Talk is cheap in football. You have to go and play.
“Anyone can say they are better and all that rubbish. After the final whistle maybe he can say we are not the same team, but it doesn’t make sense to do it beforehand.
“We just have to take these comments with a pinch of salt. Most of the boys have seen what he said and, while we don’t exactly need any motivation for this game, it will give us more.
“It’s strange to say that a team that is unbeaten in nine games isn’t in form. But we just have to let them do the talking.
“If Jay wants to say things it is up to him. Our talking has got to be done on the pitch.
“I could turn around and say I’m going to do this or I’m going to do that. But you can only really talk once the result has come in on a Saturday afternoon.
“It sort of does your team talk for you when the opposition says something like that,” Pratley revealed. “We had it before when Chris Lumsdon at Carlisle called us under-achievers and we went on to beat them 5-0.
“I’m not saying we will go and beat Cardiff 5-0. But it obviously spurs you on when someone says you are not the same team just because two players left.
“It’s a little bit disrespectful to the players that are still here. I personally wouldn’t say Cardiff are not the same without this player or that.
“We were definitely not a two-man team last year. There were games last season when neither Jordi nor Jason played and we still won.
“Last year if we went 1-0, we might have gone on to draw or lose if they got a goal back.
“But I think we are stronger mentally this season. And I would argue that we are a better team because of it.
“Yes we are missing Jason and Jordi’s goals, but we are nine games unbeaten and that says something. The goals are coming too.
“Cedric van der Gun got off the mark the other day so that is another one up and running. Everyone wants to score goals here and we don’t hide from it.
“As a team I wouldn’t say we are far off last year. I wouldn’t say we are much better, but I wouldn’t say we were worse either.
“I saw in one of the papers the other day that we are actually a point ahead of where we were this time last year. So if we are not the same team and we are a point ahead, then it’s only a good thing for Swansea.”
