Phil Sumbler
Michael Duff got his first Swans league win as manager last weekend as the Swans brushed past a Sheffield Wednesday side 3-0 to lift themselves outside of the relegation zone but as he prepares for the next challenge it’s another big week ahead before the next international break.
Saturday’s game at Millwall is followed by a home game with Norwich on Wednesday night before they head to the South West and a trip to Plymouth to ahead into the second break of the season.
Duff knows that his team needs a return from those three matches or he will head into that period with his side very much in a relegation fight and the pressure mounting on his shoulders at this (still) relatively early stage in his Swansea career.
None of those matches look easy on paper so it was no wonder that yesterday he was talking about hard work and more to be done when he started to look ahead with the media to the trip to the Den on Saturday.
He will want to build on that first win last weekend “It was good to get the monkey off our backs and get that first win,” he told the club’s official site.
“But we know we have not arrived because we have won one game, this is a tough league, and there is still a lot of hard work and a lot of improvement to come from us.
“There were definitely positives in terms of some of the football we played, the energy and the intensity we showed.
“We know we needed to give the supporters something, we have a lot still to do for them, but we are trying and working and we will keep doing so.”
After the disappointment of the defeat to Cardiff and the late equaliser at QPR the win over Sheffield Wednesday was the least that the Swans required last weekend and a trip to 11th placed Millwall will certainly be a good gauge as to whether we have improved or was it just a case of Sheffield Wednesday being awful?
“We’re going into Millwall with some confidence,” said defender Ben Cabango.
“But we’ll take it one game at a time, continue to work hard and look to move forward.
“There’s no hiding from the fact we have had a tough start, or how disappointed we were with how we performed against Cardiff.
“But we have now got a positive result, the fans were great with the support they have given us.
“We were happy to get that win, but no-one is resting on their laurels.
“We’ve put in decent performances in parts, but now it’s about building a full performance. We’re really happy with the win and with the clean sheet as well.
“Hopefully we can push on from here.”
The game at Millwall kicks off at 3pm on Saturday.
Phil. You are the Ultimate Jack. I covered all industrial accidents Duports Llanelli, B Ferry, Morfa, Landore, Mond, Troste, Velindre, PT , they have nearly all disappeared but Jacks still take some beating, Swansea ’till I die!!