“We are motivated to win the next game” – you’d kind of hope so really Matt!

Swansea captain Matt Grimes is preparing to face Birmingham City on Friday night at the wonderfully named St Andrew’s Trillion Trophy Stadium declaring the Swans “motivated” to win the game.

Of course every single Swans fan would hope that this is the case for every game that we play not just those that come off the back of two consecutive defeats leading into an international break.

Critics of our last few performances would certainly suggest that motivation has been severely lacking with the Swans looking off the pace and certainly not showing the urgency or passion of a team that is pushing on to try and win promotion to the Premier League.

With just nine games left in the season, the Swans should be looking to target around seven wins to reach the ninety point barrier which feels a tough ask but certainly not one that is beyond us if we play to the best of our ability.

And it will be the likes of captain Grimes that need to lead from the front if we are to turn around recent form starting on Friday night where we play the first of two games over the Easter weekend.

“You have to draw a line under your previous results, but after losing our last two games – the first time we’ve lost consecutive matches this season – the squad is really motivated to win our next match,” Grimes told the Swans official website.

“We’ve had an opportunity to rest up and recharge the batteries during the international break, and now we’re really focussed on the nine remaining games.

“One thing is for sure, we’ll give our all in the matches we have to play.

“It sounds boring, but the focus will always be on the game in front of us. The next game is the most important.

“Birmingham are a solid team and they carry a threat, but we’ll focus on ourselves and ensure we play the game we want to.”