Phil Sumbler
Michael Duff will put the Swans five game unbeaten run on the line this weekend when the Swans welcome Leicester City to the Swansea.com Stadium with the Swans boss believing that the weekend visitors are the best side in the division.
Leicester have adapted well to Championship life following their relegation last season and currently sit at the top of the table having won ten of their eleven Championship games to date. The Swans run of form is strong with four straight wins ahead of the international break but it is a record eclipsed by the visitors on Saturday who have won six on the bounce to enhance their credentials for an immediate return to the Premier League, a competition that they won back in 2016.
But Duff insists that the Swans are not just there on Saturday to make up the numbers and that they have a game plan which they hope will give what looks set to be a capacity crowd a happy afternoon by securing a Swans win.
Duff was facing the media in his usual weekly slot on Thursday when he started his talk about the opposition with a very clear statement of where they will end the season “I think Leicester will win the league,” said Duff. “I think they are better than Burnley last season which tells you everything. We will go in there knowing that, they have Premier League players. We will have to suffer without the ball at times but we will not sit with ten men behind the ball and hope to survive.
“We have proved in the last few weeks that we can play and that we can defend when we have to. We will have to be at our best there is no doubt about it but there is no apprehension, we will be going out intent of winning the game. I would rather get beat by trying to win then just try and survive for ninety-five minutes.
“I see alot of similarities with Manchester City in the way that they build up. The right back goes to midfield when they attack but they are a four when they defend. They have good players and we need to try and come up with something and implement ourselves on them.
“But ultimately they have just eleven players and it’s a game of football and we will go out and have a go. We have come up with a game plan and as I said we will try and implement ourselves on them. They have come to our place and if the supporters can get the place rocking and we can start well and show intent then football is a strange game.
“We have some good players too. There is no doubting they are a good team but I think we can hurt them in certain areas of the pitch.”
Duff was clearly giving nothing away about what that game plan was to involve but it is clear that he believes that the Swans will be able to compete on Saturday despite the fact that Leicester will arrive here as favourites to continue that winning run and record breaking start to a Championship season.
Did the international break though come at a bad time for the Swans off the back of that four game winning run? “It is what it is,” added Duff. “We knew it was coming off the back of a nine point week. It was a strong second half in particular against Plymouth.
“The lads had a few days off and then a full run in to what is probably the toughest game of the season on Saturday.
“The main thing for us this season has been consistency in our approach. The messages are getting through now but the character of the squad has been excellent. The Championship is unforgiving and our run at the season won’t be the last good run that we go on or the last bad run either.
“Confidence is a weird thing it is something you cannot really monitor – it is result and supporter driven. Its easier to play when the supporters are really positive which they have been even through the bad run.”
Duff was also clear in the role that the supporters can play in this game and referenced back to a celebratory moment at the end of the Plymouth game where the players, management and supporters celebrated three more points together.
“The fans have been great,” continued the boss. “You look at the Plymouth game there was almost 2000 of them. They are a huge part of the football club and I know how important the club is to them.
“The supporters have been really good. There was an edginess amongst the players when we were 1-0 up against Sheffield Wednesday but you didn’t feel that in the ground from the fans. We will need as much help as we can get on Saturday but we are there to compete and we want to try and implement our game on Leicester and if the supporters can help us get on the front foot then hopefully it will be a really good day.”
And we all hope so too. The game at the Swansea.com kicks off tomorrow at 3pm.
