Guidolin happy after latest pre-season test
30th July
Francesco Guidolin is counting down the days until the Premier League opener at Burnley after Swansea City saw off Wolves in their penultimate pre-season friendly.
The Swans made it three victories in a week courtesy of a 4-0 triumph over their Championship opponents at Molineux.
Wayne Routledge struck twice either side of a neat individual effort from Kyle Naughton before Oliver McBurnie wrapped up victory late on.
And Guidolin believes his team are shaping up nicely ahead of the trip to Turf Moor, which is now just a fortnight away.
"It's important to improve and increase our fitness, and I can say we are almost ready to go now," said the Swans boss.
"We have two weeks to go before Burnley and I feel good. I feel optimistic.
"I feel we are ready to begin the season. It's good for me to have a first pre-season with the players and to start a season in the Premier League for the first time. I am happy."
After one win and one defeat on their trip to America, the Swans had seen off Bristol Rovers (5-1) and Swindon Town (3-0) before easing to another emphatic triumph against Championship club Wolves.
Despite the Swindon scoreline, Guidolin had expressed some disappointment over the nature of his team's performance at the County Ground.
But he was much more satisfied with what he saw against a Wolves side who were being watched for the first time by new boss Walter Zenga.
"I am happier. It was a different game from Wednesday, a different attitude on the pitch from my players," Guidolin added.
"I am happy today because this week has not been easy for us.
"We have done a lot of travelling, with many kilometres in the coach, and we have played three games.
"Overall we have done some good work on our training ground. There have been a lot of sessions and a lot of kilometres run by the players.
"We were not brilliant in this game but the players are working very hard and very well. Today is a good day for us and I am happy for the players.
"I asked the players to play simple, to play together, to press and to be focused on set-pieces defensively because Wolves are a big team.
"I am happy because the players played well throughout 90 minutes."
The Swans have netted 16 goals in five pre-season games - their one blank was against Richmond Kickers - and Guidolin has been pleased by the attacking menace on show.
"It's important for the confidence of the players to score goals," he said. "It's good of course, although the results are not important at this stage."
The Swans will be boosted this week by the return to training of four senior figures in the shape of Ashley Williams, Nail Taylor, Gylfi Sigurdsson and Ki Sung-yueng.
"It's important for us to have the international players to come back," added Guidolin, whose team host Stade Rennais next Saturday.
"It was also important for them to have three weeks of holiday. Now I am happy to see them coming back."
