Last season was a pivotal season as far as the South Wales derby is concerned as it finally put to bed the statistic that neither side had done the league double over the other.
The Swans 3-0 win at the Swansea.com was followed up by a more comprehensive 4-0 win at the Cardiff City stadium and the statistic was put to bed once and for all as the Swans completed a historic league double over their rivals.
It will be two games that Cardiff City will want to forget, players and fans alike, as the bragging rights firmly arrived in SA1 after a seven goal display without reply across the two fixtures.
Over recent reasons the Cardiff City players have been accused of not caring about the fixture as much as their opposite numbers further west but midfielder Joe Ralls has spoken out ahead of this weekend’s first derby of the season to say that it is simply not the case.
“Obviously with results previously, it seems like maybe we haven’t cared as much,” Ralls told the BBC, “but I don’t think that’s the case.
“We have gone into every derby wanting to win. Results haven’t been as we’d want, but the great thing about football is we have always got a chance to put it right, and we’ll be looking to do that on Sunday.
“We have had two disappointing results, things have gone against us. But this is a great opportunity to get our season going.
“To lose both in the season was really disappointing – we know let a lot of people down
“We have a great opportunity on Sunday to go out there and show how much this game means to us players.”