Tremmel: We must be at our best

Gerhard Tremmel believes a win tomorrow night would put the Swans in a strong position in the Europa League, but warns that Michael Laudrup's side must be on top form to take all three points.

Swansea host Kuban Krasnodar on Thursday night (Oct 24, 8.05pm), hoping to make it nine points out of a possible nine, after a sensational 3-0 win in Valencia and a solid 1-0 result at home to St. Gallen, thus far in the European tournament's group stage.

The Swans currently sit top of Group A, three points clear of Valencia and St. Gallen; whereas, Kuban Krasnodar are bottom of the group after 2-0 losses to the two aforementioned sides.

However, Tremmel warns that Swansea cannot afford to underestimate their opponents, insisting anyone can beat anyone in the Europa League.

"We will have to play our game - what we always try to do," said Tremmel.

"In this case, nobody really knows about their players because the Russian league is not shown very often on the television, but there's no team in the Europa League that you can afford to underestimate.

"You can lose against any of the teams, no matter what league they are from. It's very important we focus 100 per cent and give our best.

"We know [Djibril] Cisse from the Premier League. I think he's a good striker, otherwise he wouldn't have played for so many big clubs. He is good in the box and is a strong guy, so he will be a threat to us."

Very much like the Capital One Cup campaign of last season, Tremmel has been a regular in between the sticks for the Swans in the Europa League, having started against St. Gallen as well as in away fixtures against Malmo and Petrolul Ploiesti.

And the German goalkeeper believes the European playing time is great for him as well as for the rest of the squad.

"I'm very pleased whenever I am chosen to play, and I will try to do my best.

"To be honest, I've already played a few games this season, so I am in a good rhythm. I think I've done well when I've played so far, and I hope I can keep doing that.

"The Europa League is a great experience for us. Most of our players have never played in a European competition, so we are really enjoying it.

"The travelling is hard, but that is one of the reasons why we strengthened in the summer, so that the manager is able to rotate the team.

"This week is very important for us. If we beat Kuban, we are in a really good position in the Europa League. Maybe we need one or two points out of three games.

"I hope we can go far [in the tournament]. Anything is possible, but there are no easy ties."