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.<\/p>\n
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.,<\/p>\n
Pratley told the Western Mail \u201cI don\u2019t know why Jay has done that<\/p>\n
\u201cEven if I thought something like that, it would be a little bit naive of me to say it to the press.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe is a good footballer and a top player so he doesn\u2019t need to be saying things like that. I was a little bit shocked when I saw it.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt just puts more pressure on him to do well. I wouldn\u2019t be happy with myself if something like that went in the paper.<\/p>\n
\u201cTalk is cheap in football. You have to go and play.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnyone 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\u2019t make sense to do it beforehand.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe just have to take these comments with a pinch of salt. Most of the boys have seen what he said and, while we don\u2019t exactly need any motivation for this game, it will give us more.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s strange to say that a team that is unbeaten in nine games isn\u2019t in form. But we just have to let them do the talking.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf Jay wants to say things it is up to him. Our talking has got to be done on the pitch.<\/p>\n
\u201cI could turn around and say I\u2019m going to do this or I\u2019m going to do that. But you can only really talk once the result has come in on a Saturday afternoon.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt sort of does your team talk for you when the opposition says something like that,\u201d Pratley revealed. \u201cWe had it before when Chris Lumsdon at Carlisle called us under-achievers and we went on to beat them 5-0.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a little bit disrespectful to the players that are still here. I personally wouldn\u2019t say Cardiff are not the same without this player or that.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were definitely not a two-man team last year. There were games last season when neither Jordi nor Jason played and we still won.<\/p>\n
\u201cLast year if we went 1-0, we might have gone on to draw or lose if they got a goal back.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I think we are stronger mentally this season. And I would argue that we are a better team because of it.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes we are missing Jason and Jordi\u2019s goals, but we are nine games unbeaten and that says something. The goals are coming too.<\/p>\n
\u201cCedric 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\u2019t hide from it.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a team I wouldn\u2019t say we are far off last year. I wouldn\u2019t say we are much better, but I wouldn\u2019t say we were worse either.<\/p>\n
\u201cI 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\u2019s only a good thing for Swansea.\u201d<\/p>\n