Vitor Matos | We have to be ready to fight

Vitor Matos has urged Swansea City not to let up over the final weeks of the season, and wants them to head to Leicester City with the desire to be the dominant team at the King Power Stadium.

The Swans make the trip to the East Midlands off the back of Easter draws against Sheffield United and Middlesbrough.

They now take on a Foxes side who are locked in a battle to avoid the drop into League One, with their appeal against six-point penalty related to club finances being rejected earlier this week.

It means the Swans are likely to face an emotionally-charged occasion and a home side desperate for a result.

And Matos wants that to be a challenge they meet head-on with a 1,200-strong away end cheering the visitors on.

“We know they are a team fighting for their position in the division, but this does not mean that our preparation or how we approach the game is any different. It has to be exactly the same,” said the head coach.

“We know they are a good side, they play 4-4-2, they have good speed out wide and a striker who likes to press in Patson Daka.

“But it’s for us to go there and try and dominate a team that is fighting, because that has to be our aim.

“I think as a team we have done well to have an emotional stability over these last months, which is important, because there are a lot of different teams and different styles int his league.

“So, when you are building and trying to develop, it’s important that you are focused on yourself and understand the next steps you need to take.

“But with that, you need to be prepared to face teams who are good at winning second balls, good at counter-attack, good at set-pieces, or good at managing the ball.

“So, with that, you need to find consistency in a lot of areas, and that is the line we are getting to and crossing as a team.”

And the Swans boss felt the way his side responded to difficult moments across the Easter weekend offered a positive indicator for what everyone is trying to build.

“One of the things I really liked against Middlesbrough, and Sheffield United, was that even when the game was not going as we wanted, we always found a way to compete in the game,” he added.

“We found answers to the problems, and that is an important mindset when we suffer in periods.

“You look at the Middlesbrough game, they started the game well and they scored, but how we reacted was so good and it is something we were looking at in our analysis.

“We had a spell of nearly four minutes where we kept the ball and were attacking and attacking in the opposition half. We had a similar situation soon after, from there we got the penalty and there were a couple more chances on the back of that.

“That’s what we want to build. There is a lot for us to improve, but we want to have a consistency in what we want to do.

“So whatever happens, we work game by game, and the mindset is about going to Leicester and competing, showing that whatever happens we are going to be there and we are going to want to be dominant with and without the ball and take the initiative.”